Born 1250.—Died 1324.
The relations of Ascelin, Carpini, and Rubruquis, which are supposed
by some writers to have opened the way to the discoveries of the Polo
family, are by no means entitled to so high an honour. Carpini did not
return to Italy until the latter end of the year 1248; Ascelin’s return
was still later; and although reports of the strange things they had
beheld no doubt quickly reached Venice, these cannot be supposed to
have exercised any very powerful influence in determining Nicolo and
Maffio to undertake a voyage to Constantinople, the original place of
their destination, from whence they were accidentally led on into the
extremities of Tartary. With respect to Rubruquis, he commenced his
undertaking three years after their departure from Venice, while they
were in Bokhāra; and before his return to Palestine they had already
penetrated into Cathay. The influence of the relations of these monks
upon the movements of the Polos is therefore imaginary.
Nicolo and Maffio Polo, two noble Venetians engaged in commerce, having
freighted a vessel with rich merchandise, sailed from Venice in the year
1250. Traversing the Mediterranean and the Bosphorus, they arrived in
safety at Constantinople, Baldwin II. being then Emperor of the East.
Here they disposed of their cargo, and purchasing rich jewels with the
proceeds, crossed the Black Sea to Soldain, or Sudak, in the Crimea,
from whence they travelled by land to the court of Barkah Khan, a Tartar
prince, whose principal residences were the cities of Al-Serai, and
Bolghar. To this khan they presented a number of their finest jewels,
receiving gifts of still greater value in return. When they had spent
a whole year in the dominions of Barkah, and were beginning to prepare
for their return to Italy, hostilities suddenly broke out between the
khan and his cousin Holagon; which, rendering unsafe all passages
to the west, compelled them to make the circuit of the northern and
eastern frontiers of Kipjak. Having escaped from the scene of war they
crossed Gihon, and then traversing a desert of seventeen days’ journey,
thinly sprinkled with the tents of the wandering tribes, they arrived
at Bokhāra. Here they remained three years. At the termination of this
period an ambassador from Holagon to Kublai Khan passing through Bokhāra,
and happening accidentally to meet with the Polos, who had by this time
acquired a competent knowledge of the Tartar language, was greatly
charmed with their conversation and manners, and by much persuasion
and many magnificent promises prevailed upon them to accompany him to
Cambalu, or Khanbalik, in Cathay. A whole year was consumed in this
journey. At length, however, they arrived at the court of the Great Khan,
who received and treated them with peculiar distinction.
How long the brothers remained at Cambalu is not known; but their
residence, whatever may have been its length, sufficed to impress Kublai
Khan with an exalted opinion of their honour and capacity, so that when
by the advice of his courtiers he determined on sending an embassy to the
pope, Nicolo and Maffio were intrusted with the conduct of the mission.
They accordingly departed from Cambalu, furnished with letters for the
head of the Christian church, a passport or tablet of gold, empowering
them to provide themselves with guides, horses, and provisions throughout
the khan’s dominions, and accompanied by a Tartar nobleman. This Tartar
falling exceedingly ill on the way, they proceeded alone, and, after
three years of toil and dangers, arrived at Venice in 1269.
Nicolo, who, during the many years he had been absent, seems to have
received no intelligence from home, now found that his wife, whom he
had left pregnant at his departure, was dead, but that she had left him
a son, named Marco, then nineteen years old. The pope, likewise, had
died the preceding year; and various intrigues preventing the election
of a successor, they remained in Italy two years, unable to execute the
commission of the khan. At length, fearing that their long absence might
be displeasing to Kublai, and perceiving no probability of a speedy
termination to the intrigues of the conclave, they, in 1271, again set
out for the East, accompanied by young Marco.
Arriving in Palestine, they obtained from the legate Visconti, then at
Acre, letters testifying their fidelity to the Great Khan, and stating
the fact that a new pope had not yet been chosen. At Al-Ajassi, in
Armenia, however, they were overtaken by a messenger from Visconti, who
wrote to inform them that he himself had been elected to fill the papal
throne, and requested that they would either return, or delay their
departure until he could provide them with new letters to the khan. As
soon as these letters and the presents of his holiness arrived, they
continued their journey, and passing through the northern provinces of
Persia, were amused with the extraordinary history of the Assassins, then
recently destroyed by a general of Holagon.
Quitting Persia, they proceeded through a rich and picturesque country
to Balkh, a celebrated city, which they found in ruins and nearly
deserted, its lofty walls and marble palaces having been levelled
with the ground by the devastating armies of the Mongols. The country
in the neighbourhood had likewise been depopulated, the inhabitants
having taken refuge in the mountains from the rapacious cruelty of the
predatory hordes, who roamed over the vast fields which greater robbers
had reaped, gleaning the scanty plunder which had escaped their powerful
predecessors. Though the land was well watered and fertile, and abounding
in game, lions and other wild beasts had begun to establish their
dominion over it, man having disappeared; and therefore, such travellers
as ventured across this new wilderness were constrained to carry along
with them all necessary provisions, nothing whatever being to be found on
the way.
When they had passed this desert, they arrived in a country richly
cultivated and covered with corn, to the south of which there was a ridge
of high mountains, where such prodigious quantities of salt were found
that all the world might have been supplied from those mines. The track
of our travellers through the geographical labyrinth of Tartary it is
impossible to follow. They appear to have been prevented by accidents
from pursuing any regular course, in one place having their passage
impeded by the overflowing of a river, and on other occasions being
turned aside by the raging of bloody wars, by the heat or barrenness, or
extent of deserts, or by their utter inability to procure guides through
tracts covered with impervious forests or perilous morasses.
They next proceeded through a fertile country, inhabited by Mohammedans,
to the town of Scasom, perhaps the Koukan of Arrowsmith, on the Sirr
or Sihon. Numerous castles occupied the fastnesses of the mountains,
while the shepherd tribes, like the troglodytes of old, dwelt with their
herds and flocks in caverns scooped out of the rock. In three days’
journey from hence they reached the province of Balascia, or Balashghan,
where, Marco falling sick, the party were detained during a whole
year, a delay which afforded our illustrious traveller ample leisure
for prosecuting his researches respecting this and the neighbouring
countries. The kings of this petty sovereignty pretended to trace their
descent from the Macedonian conqueror and the daughter of Darius; making
up, by the fabulous splendour of their genealogy, for their want of
actual power. The inhabitants were Mohammedans, and spoke a language
peculiar to themselves. It was said, that not many years previous they
had possessed a race of horses equally illustrious with their kings,
being descended from Bucephalus; but as it was asserted that these noble
animals possessed one great advantage over their kings, that of bearing
upon their foreheads the peculiar mark which distinguished the great
founder of their family, thus proving the purity of the breed, they very
prudently added that the whole race had recently been exterminated.
This country was rich in minerals and precious stones, lead, copper,
silver, lapis lazuli, and rubies abounding in the mountains. The climate
was cold, and that of the plains insalubrious, engendering agues, which
quickly yielded, however, to the bracing air of the hills; where Marco,
after languishing for a whole year with this disorder, recovered his
health in the course of a few days. The horses were large, strong, and
swift, and had hoofs so tough that they could travel unshod over the most
rocky places. Vast flocks of wild sheep, exceedingly difficult to be
taken, were found in the hills.
Marco’s health being restored, our travellers resumed their journey
towards Cathay, and proceeding in a north-easterly direction, arrived
at the roots of a vast mountain, reported by the inhabitants to be the
loftiest in the world. Having continued for three days ascending the
steep approaches to this mountain, they reached an extensive table-land,
hemmed in on both sides by still loftier mountains, and having a great
lake in its centre. A fine river likewise flowed through it, and
maintained so extraordinary a degree of fertility in the pastures upon
its banks, that an ox or horse brought lean to these plains would become
fat in ten days. Great numbers of wild animals were found here, among the
rest a species of wild sheep with horns six spans in length, from which
numerous drinking-vessels were made. This immense plain, notwithstanding
its fertility, was uninhabited, and the severity of the cold prevented
its being frequented by birds. Fire, too, it was asserted, did not here
burn so brightly, or produce the same effect upon food, as in other
places: an observation which has recently been made on the mountains of
Savoy and Switzerland.
From this plain they proceeded along the foot of the Allak mountains
to the country of Kashgar, which, possessing a fertile soil, and an
industrious and ingenious population, was maintained in a high state
of cultivation, and beautified with numerous gardens, orchards, and
vineyards. From Kashgar they travelled to Yarkand, where the inhabitants,
like those of the valleys of the Pyrenees, were subject to the goitres,
or large wens upon the throat. To this province succeeded that of
Khoten, whence our word _cotton_ has been derived. The inhabitants of
this country, an industrious but unwarlike race, were of the Mohammedan
religion, and tributaries to the Great Khan. Proceeding in their
south-easterly direction, they passed through the city of Peym, where,
if a husband or wife were absent from home twenty days, the remaining
moiety might marry again; and pursuing their course through sandy
barren plains, arrived at the country of Sartem. Here the landscape was
enlivened by numerous cities and castles; but when the storm of war burst
upon them, the inhabitants, like the Arabs, relied upon famine as their
principal weapon against the enemy, retiring with their wives, children,
treasures, and provisions, into the desert, whither none could follow
them. To secure their subsistence from plunder, they habitually scooped
out their granaries in the depths of the desert, where, after harvest,
they annually buried their corn in deep pits, over which the wind soon
spread the wavy sand as before, obliterating all traces of their labours.
They themselves, however, possessed some unerring index to the spot,
which enabled them at all times to discover their hoards. Chalcedonies,
jaspers, and other precious stones were found in the rivers of this
province.
Here some insurmountable obstacle preventing their pursuing a direct
course, they deviated towards the north, and in five days arrived at
the city of Lop, on the border of the desert of the same name. This
prodigious wilderness, the most extensive in Asia, could not, as was
reported, be traversed from west to east in less than a year; while,
proceeding from south to north, a month’s journey conducted the traveller
across its whole latitude. Remaining some time at the city of Lop, or
Lok, to make the necessary preparations for the journey, they entered the
desert. In all those fearful scenes where man is constrained to compare
his own insignificance with the magnificent and resistless power of the
elements, legends, accommodated to the nature of the place, abound,
peopling the frozen deep or the “howling wilderness” with poetical
horrors superadded to those which actually exist. On the present occasion
their Tartar companions, or guides, entertained our travellers with the
wild tales current in the country. Having dwelt sufficiently upon the
tremendous sufferings which famine or want of water sometimes inflicted
upon the hapless merchant in those inhospitable wastes, they added, from
their legendary stores, that malignant demons continually hovered in the
cold blast or murky cloud which nightly swept over the sands. Delighting
in mischief, they frequently exerted their supernatural powers in
steeping the senses of travellers in delusion, sometimes calling them
by their names, practising upon their sight, or, by raising up phantom
shapes, leading them astray, and overwhelming them in the sands. Upon
other occasions, the ears of the traveller were delighted with the sounds
of music which these active spirits, like Shakspeare’s Ariel, scattered
through the dusky air; or were saluted with that sweetest of all music,
the voice of friends. Then, suddenly changing their mood, the beat of
drums, the clash of arms, and a stream of footfalls, and of the tramp of
hoofs, were heard, as if whole armies were marching past in the darkness.
Such as were deluded by any of these arts, and separated, whether by
night or day, from their caravan, generally lost themselves in the
pathless wilds, and perished miserably of hunger. To prevent this danger,
travellers kept close together, and suspended little bells about the
necks of their beasts; and when any of their party unfortunately lagged
behind, they carefully fixed up marks along their route, in order to
enable them to follow.
Having safely traversed this mysterious desert, they arrived at the
city of Shatcheu, on the Polonkir, in Tangut. Here the majority of the
inhabitants were pagans and polytheists, and their various gods possessed
numerous temples in different parts of the city. Marco, who was a
diligent inquirer into the creed and religious customs of the nations he
visited, discovered many singular traits of superstition at Shatcheu.
When a son was born in a family, he was immediately consecrated to some
one of their numerous gods; and a sheep, yeaned, perhaps, on the birthday
of the child, was carefully kept and fed in the house during a whole
year: at the expiration of which term both the child and the sheep were
carried to the temple, and offered as a sacrifice to the god. The god,
or, which was the same thing, the priests, accepted the sheep, which
they could eat, in lieu of the boy, whom they could not; and the meat
being dressed in the temple, that the deity might be refreshed with the
sweet-smelling savour, was then conveyed to the father’s dwelling, where
a sumptuous feast ensued, at which it may be safely inferred the servants
of the temple were not forgotten. At all events, the priests received the
head, feet, skin, and entrails, with a portion of the flesh, for their
share. The bones were preserved, probably for purposes of divination.
Their exit from life was celebrated with as much pomp as their entrance
into it. Astrologers, the universal pests of the east, were immediately
consulted; and these, having learned the year, month, day, and hour
in which the deceased was born, interrogated the stars, and by their
mute but significant replies discovered the precise moment on which the
interment was to take place. Sometimes these oracles of the sky became
sullen, and for six months vouchsafed no answer to the astrologers,
during all which time the corpse remained in a species of purgatory,
uncertain of its doom. To prevent the dead from keeping the living in
the same state, however, the body, having been previously embalmed, was
enclosed in a coffin so artificially constructed that no offensive odour
could escape; while, as the soul was supposed to hover all this while
over its ancient tenement, and to require, as formerly, some kind of
earthly sustenance, food was daily placed before the deceased, that the
spirit might satisfy its appetite with the agreeable effluvia. When the
day of interment arrived, the astrologers, who would have lost their
credit had they always allowed things to proceed in a rational way,
sometimes commanded the body to be borne out through an opening made for
the purpose in the wall, professing to be guided in this matter by the
stars, who, having no other employment, were extremely solicitous that
all Tartars should be interred in due form. On the way from the house of
the deceased to the cemetery, wooden cottages with porches covered with
silk were erected at certain intervals, in which the coffin was set down
before a table covered with bread, wine, and other delicacies, that the
spirit might be refreshed with the savour. The procession was accompanied
by all the musical instruments in the city; and along with the body were
borne representations upon paper of servants of both sexes, horses,
camels, money, and costly garments, all of which were consumed with the
corpse on the funeral pile, instead of the realities, which, according to
Herodotus, were anciently offered up as a sacrifice to the manes at the
tombs of the Scythian chiefs.
Turning once more towards the north, they entered the fertile and
agreeable province of Khamil, situated between the vast desert of Lop and
another smaller desert, only three days’ journey across. The natives of
this country, practical disciples of Aristippus, being of opinion that
pleasure is happiness, seemed to live only for amusement, devoting the
whole of their time to singing, dancing, music, and literature. Their
hospitality, like that of the knights of chivalry, was so boundlessly
profuse, that strangers were permitted to share, not only their board,
but their bed, the master of a family departing when a guest arrived, in
order to render him more completely at home with his wife and daughters.
To increase the value of this extraordinary species of hospitality, it is
added that the women of Khamil are beautiful, and as fully disposed as
their lords to promote the happiness of their guests. Mangou Khan, the
predecessor of Kublai, desirous of reforming the morals of his subjects,
whatever might be the fate of his own, abolished this abominable custom;
but years of scarcity and domestic afflictions ensuing, the people
petitioned to have the right of following their ancestral customs
restored to them. “Since you glory in your shame,” said Mangou to
their ambassadors, “you may go and act according to your customs.”
The flattering privilege was received with great rejoicings, and the
practice, strange as it may be, has continued up to the present day.
Departing from this Tartarian Sybaris, they entered the province of
Chinchintalas, a country thickly peopled, and rich in mines, but chiefly
remarkable for that salamander species of linen, manufactured from
the slender fibres of the asbestos, which was cleansed from stains by
being cast into the fire. Then followed the district of Sucher, in the
mountains of which the best rhubarb in the world was found. They next
directed their course towards the north-east, and having completed the
passage of the desert of Shomo, which occupied forty days, arrived at the
city of Karakorum, compared by Rubruquis to the insignificant town of
St. Denis, in France, but said by Marco Polo to have been three miles in
circumference, and strongly fortified with earthen ramparts.
Our travellers now turned their faces towards the south, and traversing
an immense tract of country which Marco considered unworthy of minute
description, passed the boundaries of Mongolia, and entered Cathay.
During this journey they travelled through a district in which were found
enormous wild cattle, nearly approaching the size of the elephant, and
clothed with a fine, soft, black and white hair, in many respects more
beautiful than silk, specimens of which Marco procured and brought home
with him to Venice on his return. Here, likewise, the best musk in the
world was found. The animal from which it was procured resembled a goat
in size, but in gracefulness and beauty bore a stronger likeness to the
antelope, except that it had no horns. On the belly of this animal there
appeared, every full moon, a small protuberance or excrescence, like a
thin silken bag, filled with the liquid perfume; to obtain which the
animal was hunted and slain. This bag was then severed from the body,
and its contents, when dried, were distributed at an enormous price over
the world, to scent the toilets and the persons of beauties in reality
more sweet than itself.
Near Changanor, at another point of their journey, they saw one of the
khan’s palaces, which was surrounded by beautiful gardens, containing
numerous small lakes and rivulets and a prodigious number of swans. The
neighbouring plains abounded in partridges, pheasants, and other game,
among which are enumerated five species of cranes, some of a snowy
whiteness, others with black wings, their feathers being ornamented with
eyes like those of the peacock, but of a golden colour, with beautiful
black and white necks. Immense flocks of quails and partridges were found
in a valley near this city, where millet and other kinds of grain were
sown for them by order of the khan, who likewise appointed a number of
persons to watch over the birds, and caused huts to be erected in which
they might take shelter and be fed by their keepers during the severity
of the winter. By these means, the khan had at all times a large quantity
of game at his command.
At Chandu, three days’ journey south-west of Changanor, they beheld the
stupendous palace which Kublai Khan had erected in that city. Neither
the dimensions nor the architecture are described by Marco Polo, but
it is said to have been constructed, with singular art and beauty, of
marble and other precious materials. The grounds of this palace, which
were surrounded by a wall, were sixteen miles in circumference, and
were beautifully laid out into meadows, groves, and lawns, watered by
sparkling streams, and abundantly stocked with red and fallow deer, and
other animals of the chase. In this park the khan had a mew of falcons,
which, when at the palace, he visited once a week, and caused to be fed
with the flesh of young fawns. Tame leopards were employed in hunting the
stag, and, like the chattah, or tiger, used for the same purpose in the
Carnatic, were carried out on horseback to the scene of action, and let
loose only when the game appeared.
In the midst of a tall grove, there was an elegant pavilion, or
summer-house, of wood, supported on pillars, and glittering with the
richest gilding. Against each pillar stood the figure of a dragon,
likewise richly gilt, with its tail curling round the shaft, its head
touching the roof, and its wings extended on both sides through the
intercolumniations. The roof was composed of split bamboos gilded and
varnished, and so skilfully shelving over each other that no rain could
ever penetrate between them. This beautiful structure could easily be
taken to pieces or re-erected, like a tent, and, to prevent it from being
overthrown by the wind, was fastened to the earth by two hundred silken
ropes. At this palace the khan regularly spent the three summer months
of June, July, and August, leaving it on the 28th of the last-named
month, in order to proceed towards the south. Eight days previous to
his departure, however, having solemnly consulted his astrologers, the
khan annually offered sacrifice to the gods and spirits of the earth,
the ceremony consisting in sprinkling a quantity of white mare’s milk
upon the ground with his own hands, at the same time praying for the
prosperity of his subjects, wives, and children. Kublai Khan was in no
danger of wanting milk for this sacrifice, since he possessed a stud of
horses, nearly ten thousand in number, all so purely white, that like
certain Homeric steeds, they might, without vanity, have traced their
origin to Boreas, the father of the snow. Indeed, much of this imperial
nectar must have streamed in libations to mother earth on less solemn
occasions; since none but persons of the royal race of Genghis Khan were
permitted to drink of it, with the exception of one single family, named
Boriat, to whom this distinguished privilege had been granted by Genghis
for their prowess and valour.
Our travellers now drew near Cambalu, and the khan, having received
intelligence of their approach, sent forth messengers to meet them at
the distance of forty days’ journey from the imperial city, that they
might be provided with all necessaries on the way, and conducted with
every mark of honour and distinction to the capital. Upon their arrival,
they were immediately presented to the khan; and having prostrated
themselves upon the ground, according to the custom of the country, were
commanded to rise, and most graciously received. When they had been
kindly interrogated by the emperor respecting the fatigues and dangers
they had encountered in his service, and had briefly related their
proceedings with the pope and in Palestine, from whence, at the khan’s
desire, they had brought a small portion of holy oil from the lamp of
Christ’s sepulchre at Jerusalem, they received high commendations for
their care and fidelity. Then the khan, observing Marco, inquired, “Who
is this youth?”—“He is your majesty’s servant, and my son,” replied
Nicolo. Kublai then received the young man with a smile, and, appointing
him to some office about his person, caused him to be instructed in
the languages and sciences of the country. Marco’s aptitude and genius
enabled him to fulfil the wishes of the khan. In a very short time he
acquired, by diligence and assiduity, a large acquaintance with the
manners of the Mongols, and could speak and write fluently in four of the
languages of the empire.
When Marco Polo appeared to have acquired the necessary degree of
information, the khan, to make trial of his ability, despatched him upon
an embassy to a city or chief called Karakhan, at the distance of six
months’ journey from Cambalu. This difficult commission our traveller
executed with ability and discretion; and in order still further to
enhance the merit of his services in the estimation of his sovereign, he
carefully observed the customs and manners of all the various tribes
among whom he resided, and drew up a concise account of the whole in
writing, which, together with a description of the new and curious
objects he had beheld, he presented to the khan on his return. This, as
he foresaw, greatly contributed to increase the favour of the prince
towards him; and he continued to rise gradually from one degree of honour
to another, until at length it may be doubted whether any individual in
the empire enjoyed a larger portion of Kublai’s affection and esteem.
Upon various occasions, sometimes upon the khan’s business, sometimes
upon his own, he traversed all the territories and dependencies of
the empire, everywhere possessing the means of observing whatever he
considered worth notice, his authority and the imperial favour opening
the most secluded and sacred places to his scrutiny.
As our traveller has not thought proper, however, to describe these
various journeys chronologically, or, indeed, to determine with any
degree of exactness when any one of them took place, we are at liberty,
in recording his peregrinations, to adopt whatever arrangement we please;
and it being indisputable that Northern China was the first part of
Kublai’s dominions, properly so called, which he entered, it appears most
rational to commence the history of his Chinese travels with an outline
of what he saw in that division of the empire.
The khan himself, whose profuse munificence enabled Marco Polo to perform
with pleasure and comfort his long and numerous expeditions, was a fine
handsome man of middle stature, with a fresh complexion, bright black
eyes, a well-formed nose, and a form every way well proportioned. He
had four wives, each of whom had the title of empress, and possessed
her own magnificent palace, with a separate court, consisting of
three hundred maids of honour, a large number of eunuchs, and a suite
amounting at least to ten thousand persons. He, moreover, possessed a
numerous harem besides his wives; and in order to keep up a constant
supply of fresh beauties, messengers were despatched every two years
into a province of Tartary remarkable for the beauty of its women, and
therefore set apart as a nursery for royal concubines, to collect the
finest among the daughters of the land for the khan. As the inhabitants
of this country considered it an honour to breed mistresses for their
prince, the “elegans formarum spectator” had no difficulty in finding
whatever number of young women he desired, and generally returned to
court with at least five hundred in his charge. So vast an army of women
were not, however, marched all at once into the khan’s harem. Examiners
were appointed to fan away the chaff from the corn,—that is, to discover
whether any of these fair damsels snored in their sleep, had an unsavoury
smell, or were addicted to any mischievous or disagreeable tricks in
their behaviour. Such, says the traveller, as were finally approved were
divided into parties of five, and one such party attended in the chamber
of the khan during three days and three nights in their turn, while
another party waited in an adjoining apartment to prepare whatever the
others might command them. The girls of inferior charms were employed in
menial offices about the palace, or were bestowed in marriage, with large
portions, upon the favoured officers of the khan.
The number of the khan’s family, though not altogether answerable to this
vast establishment of women, was respectable,—consisting of forty-seven
sons, of whom twenty-two were by his wives, and all employed in offices
of trust and honour in the empire. Of the number of his daughters we are
not informed.
The imperial city of Cambalu, the modern Peking, formed the residence
of the khan during the months of December, January, and February. The
palace of Kublai stood in the midst of a prodigious park, thirty-two
miles in circumference, surrounded by a lofty wall and deep ditch.
This enclosure, like all Mongol works of the kind, was square, and each
of its four sides was pierced by but one gate, so that between gate
and gate there was a distance of eight miles. Within this vast square
stood another, twenty-four miles in circumference, the walls being
equidistant from those of the outer square, and pierced on the northern
and southern sides by three gates, of which the centre one, loftier and
more magnificent than the rest, was reserved for the khan alone. At the
four corners, and in the centre of each face of the inner square, were
superb and spacious buildings, which were royal arsenals for containing
the implements and machinery of war, such as horse-trappings, long and
crossbows and arrows, helmets, cuirasses, leather armour, &c. Marco Polo
makes no mention of artillery or of firearms of any kind, from which it
may be fairly inferred that the use of gunpowder, notwithstanding the
vain pretensions of the modern Chinese, was unknown to their ancestors
of the thirteenth century; for it is inconceivable that so intelligent
and observant a traveller as Marco Polo should have omitted all mention
of so stupendous an invention, had it in his age been known either to
the Chinese or their conquerors. Indeed, though certainly superior in
civilization and the arts of life to the nations of Europe, they appear
to have been altogether inferior in the science of destruction; for
when Sian-fu had for three years checked the arms of Kublai Khan in his
conquest of Southern China, the Tartars were compelled to have recourse
to the ingenuity of Nicolo and Maffio Polo, who, constructing immense
catapults capable of casting stones of three hundred pounds’ weight,
enabled them, by battering down the houses and shaking the walls as with
an earthquake, to terrify the inhabitants into submission.
To return, however, to the description of the palace. The space between
the first and second walls was bare and level, and appropriated to
the exercising of the troops. But having passed the second wall, you
discovered an immense park, resembling the paradises of the ancient
Persian kings, stretching away on all sides into green lawns, dotted and
broken into long sunny vistas or embowered shades by numerous groves
of trees, between the rich and various foliage of which the glittering
pinnacles and snow-white battlements of the palace walls appeared at
intervals. The palace itself was a mile in length, but, not being of
corresponding height, had rather the appearance of a vast terrace or
range of buildings than of one structure. Its interior was divided into
numerous apartments, some of which were of prodigious dimensions and
splendidly ornamented; the walls being covered with figures of men,
birds, and animals in exquisite relief and richly gilt. A labyrinth of
carving, gilding, and the most brilliant colours, red, green, and blue,
supplied the place of a ceiling; and the united effect of the whole
oppressed the soul with a sense of painful splendour. On the north of
this poetical abode, which rivalled in vastness and magnificence the
Olympic domes of Homer, stood an artificial hill, a mile in circumference
and of corresponding height, which was skilfully planted with evergreen
trees, which the Great Khan had caused to be brought from remote places,
with all their roots, on the backs of elephants. At the foot of this hill
were two beautiful lakes imbosomed in trees, and filled with a multitude
of delicate fish.
That portion of the imperial city which had been erected by Kublai Khan
was square, like his palace. It was less extensive, however, than the
royal grounds, being only twenty-four miles in circumference. The streets
were all straight, and six miles in length, and the houses were erected
on each side, with courts and gardens, like palaces. At a certain hour
of the night, a bell, like the curfew of the Normans, was sounded in the
city, after which it was not lawful for any person to go out of doors
unless upon the most urgent business; for example, to procure assistance
for a woman in labour; in which case, however, they were compelled to
carry torches before them, from which we may infer that the streets were
not lighted with lamps. Twelve extensive suburbs, inhabited by foreign
merchants and by tradespeople, and more populous than the city itself,
lay without the walls.
The money current in China at this period was of a species of paper
fabricated from the middle bark of the mulberry-tree, and of a round
form. To counterfeit, or to refuse this money in payment, or to make use
of any other was a capital offence. The use of this money, which within
the empire was as good as any other instrument of exchange, enabled the
khan to amass incredible quantities of the precious metals and of all the
other toys which delight civilized man. Great public roads, which may
be enumerated among the principal instruments of civilization, radiated
from Peking, or Cambalu, towards all the various provinces of the empire,
and by the enlightened and liberal regulations of the khan, not only
facilitated in a surprising manner the conveyance of intelligence, but
likewise afforded to travellers and merchants a safe and commodious
passage from one province to another. On each of these great roads were
inns at the distance of twenty-five or thirty miles, amply furnished with
chambers, beds, and provisions, and four hundred horses, of which one
half were constantly kept saddled in the stables, ready for use, while
the other moiety were grazing in the neighbouring fields. In deserts and
mountainous steril districts where there were no inhabitants, the khan
established colonies to cultivate the lands, where that was possible, and
provide provisions for the ambassadors and royal messengers who possessed
the privilege of using the imperial horses and the public tables. In the
night these messengers were lighted on their way by persons running
before them with torches; and when they approached a posthouse, of
which there were ten thousand in the empire, they sounded a horn, as
our mail and stage coaches do, to inform the inmates of their coming,
that no delay might be experienced. By this means, one of these couriers
sometimes travelled two hundred or two hundred and fifty miles in a day.
In desolate and uninhabited places, the courses of the roads were marked
by trees which had been planted for the purpose; and in places where
nothing would vegetate, by stones or pillars.
The manners, customs, and opinions of the people, though apparently
considered by Marco Polo as less important than what regarded the
magnificence and greatness of the khan, commanded a considerable share
of our traveller’s attention. The religion of Buddha, whose mysterious
doctrines have eluded the grasp of the most comprehensive minds even up
to the present moment, he could not be expected to understand; but its
great leading tenets, the unity of the supreme God, the immortality of
the soul, the metempsychosis, and the final absorption of the virtuous
in the essence of the Divinity, are distinctly announced. The manners of
the Tartars were mild and refined; their temper cheerful; their character
honest. Filial affection was assiduously cultivated, and such as were
wanting in this virtue were condemned to severe punishment by the laws.
Three years’ imprisonment was the usual punishment for heinous offences;
but the criminals were marked upon the cheek when set at liberty, that
they might be known and avoided.
Agriculture has always commanded a large share of the attention of the
Chinese. The whole country for many days’ journey west of Cambalu was
covered with a numerous population, distinguished for their ingenuity and
industry. Towns and cities were numerous, the fields richly cultivated,
and interspersed with vineyards or plantations of mulberry-trees. On
approaching the banks of the Hoang-ho, which was so broad and deep that
no bridges could be thrown over it from the latitude of Cambalu to the
ocean, the fields abounded with ginger and silk; and game, particularly
pheasants, were so abundant, that three of these beautiful birds might
be purchased for a Venetian groat. The margin of the river was clothed
with large forests of bamboos, the largest, tallest, and most useful of
the cane species. Crossing the Hoang-ho, and proceeding for two days in
a westerly direction, you arrived at the city of Karianfu, situated in
a country fertile in various kinds of spices, and remarkable for its
manufactories of silk and cloth of gold.
This appears to have been the route pursued by Marco Polo when proceeding
as the emperor’s ambassador into Western Tibet. Having travelled for ten
days through plains of surpassing beauty and fertility, thickly sprinkled
with cities, castles, towns, and villages, shaded by vast plantations
of mulberry-trees, and cultivated like a garden, he arrived in the
mountainous district of the province of Chunchian, which abounded with
lions, bears, stags, roebucks, and wolves. The country through which his
route now lay was an agreeable succession of hill, valley, and plain,
adorned and improved by art, or reluctantly abandoned to the rude but
sublime fantasies of nature.
On entering Tibet, indelible traces of the footsteps of war everywhere
smote upon his eye. The whole country had been reduced by the armies of
the khan to a desert; the city, the cheerful village, the gilded and
gay-looking pagoda, the pleasant homestead, and the humble and secluded
cottage, having been overthrown, and their smoking ruins trampled in the
dust, had now been succeeded by interminable forests of swift-growing
bamboos, from between whose thick and knotty stems the lion, the
tiger, and other ferocious animals rushed out suddenly upon the unwary
traveller. Not a soul appeared to cheer the eye, or offer provisions for
money. All around was stillness and utter desolation. And at night, when
they desired to taste a little repose, it was necessary to kindle an
immense fire, and heap upon it large quantities of green reeds, which,
by the crackling and hissing noise which they made in burning, might
frighten away the wild beasts.
This pestilential desert occupied him twenty days in crossing, after
which human dwellings, and other signs of life, appeared. The manners of
the people among whom he now found himself were remarkably obscene and
preposterous. Improving upon the superstitious libertinism of the ancient
Babylonians, who sacrificed the modesty of their wives and daughters in
the temple of Astarte once in their lives, these Tibetians invariably
prostituted their young women to all strangers and travellers who passed
through their country, and made it a point of honour never to marry
a woman until she could exhibit numerous tokens of her incontinence.
Thieving, like want of chastity, was among them no crime; and, although
they had begun to cultivate the earth, they still derived their principal
means of subsistence from the chase. Their clothing was suitable to their
manners, consisting of the skins of wild beasts, or of a kind of coarse
hempen garment, less comfortable, perhaps, and still more uncouth to
sight. Though subject to China, as it is to this day, the paper money,
current through all other parts of the empire, was not in use here; nor
had they any better instrument of exchange than small pieces of coral,
though their mountains abounded with mines of the precious metals, while
gold was rolled down among mud and pebbles through the beds of their
torrents. Necklaces of coral adorned the persons of their women and their
gods, their earthly and heavenly idols being apparently rated at the
same value. In hunting, enormous dogs, nearly the size of asses, were
employed.
Still proceeding towards the west, he traversed the province of Kaindu,
formerly an independent kingdom, in which there was an extensive
salt-lake, so profusely abounding with white pearls, that to prevent
their price from being immoderately reduced, it was forbidden, under pain
of death, to fish for them without a license from the Great Khan. The
turquoise mines found in this province were under the same regulations.
The _gadderi_, or musk deer, was found here in great numbers, as were
likewise lions, bears, stags, ounces, deer, and roebucks. The clove,
extremely plentiful in Kaindu, was gathered from small trees not unlike
the bay-tree in growth and leaves, though somewhat longer and straighter:
its flowers were white, like those of the jasmin. Here manners were
regulated by nearly the same principles as in the foregoing province,
strangers assuming the rights of husbands in whatever houses they rested
on their journey. Unstamped gold, issued by weight, and small solid
loaves of salt, marked with the seal of the khan, were the current money.
Traversing the province of Keraian, of which little is said, except that
its inhabitants were pagans, and spoke a very difficult language, our
traveller next arrived at the city of Lassa, situated on the Dom or Tama
river, a branch of the Bramahpootra. This celebrated and extensive city,
the residence of the Dalai, or Great Lama, worshipped by the natives as
an incarnation of the godhead, was then the resort of numerous merchants,
and the centre of an active and widely-diffused commerce. Complete
religious toleration prevailed, pagans, Mohammedans, and Christians
dwelling together apparently in harmony; the followers of the established
religion, a modification of Buddhism, being however by far the most
numerous. Though corn was here plentiful, the inhabitants made no use
of any other bread than that of rice, which they considered the most
wholesome; and their wine, which was flavoured with several kinds of
spices, and exceedingly pleasant, they likewise manufactured from the
same grain. Cowries seem to have been used for money. The inhabitants,
like the Abyssinians, ate the flesh of the ox, the buffalo, and the sheep
raw, though they do not appear to have cut their steaks from the living
animals. Here, as elsewhere in Tibet, women were subjected, under certain
conditions, to the embraces of strangers.
From Lassa, Marco Polo proceeded to the province of Korazan, where veins
of solid gold were found in the mountains, and washed down to the plains
by the waters of the rivers. Cowries were here the ordinary currency.
Among the usual articles of food was the flesh of the crocodile, which
was said to be very delicate. The inhabitants carried on an active
trade in horses with India. In their wars they made use of targets and
other defensive armour, manufactured, like the shields of many of the
Homeric heroes, from tough bull or buffalo hide. Their arms consisted
of lances or spears, and crossbows, from which, like genuine savages,
they darted poisonous arrows at their foes. When taken prisoners, they
frequently escaped from the evils of servitude by self-slaughter,
always bearing about their persons, like Mithridates and Demosthenes, a
concealed poison, by which they could at any time open themselves a way
to Pluto. Previous to the Mongol conquests, these reckless savages were
in the habit of murdering in their sleep such strangers or travellers as
happened to pass through their country, from the superstitious belief, it
is said, that the good qualities of the dead would devolve upon those who
killed them, of which it must be confessed they stood in great need; and
perhaps from the better grounded conviction that they should thus, at
all events, become the undoubted heirs of their wealth.
Journeying westward for five days our traveller arrived at the province
of Kardandan, where the current money were cowries brought from India,
and gold in ingots. Gold was here so plentiful that it was exchanged for
five times its weight in silver; and the inhabitants, who had probably
been subject to the toothache, were in the habit of covering their teeth
with thin plates of this precious metal, which, according to Marco,
were so nicely fitted that the teeth appeared to be of solid gold. The
practice of tattooing, which seems to have prevailed at one time or
other over the whole world, was in vogue here, men being esteemed in
proportion as their skins were more disfigured. Riding, hunting, and
martial exercises occupied the whole time of the men, while the women,
aided by the slaves who were purchased or taken in war, performed all
the domestic labours. Another strange custom, the cause and origin of
which, though it has prevailed in several parts of the world, is hidden
in obscurity, obtained here; when a woman had been delivered of a child,
she immediately quitted her bed, and having washed the infant, placed it
in the hands of her husband, who, lying down in her stead, personated the
sick person, nursed the child, and remained in bed six weeks, receiving
the visits and condolences of his friends and neighbours. Meanwhile the
woman bestirred herself, and performed her usual duties as if nothing
had happened. Marco Polo could discover nothing more of the religious
opinions of this people than that they worshipped the oldest man in their
family, probably as the representative of the generative principle of
nature. Broken, rugged, and stupendous mountains, no doubt the Himmalaya,
rendered this wild country nearly inaccessible to strangers, who were
further deterred by a report that a fatal miasma pervaded the air,
particularly in summer. The knowledge of letters had not penetrated into
this region, and all contracts and obligations were recorded by tallies
of wood, as small accounts are still kept in Normandy, and other rude
provinces of Europe.
Ignorance, priestcraft, and magic being of one family, and thriving by
each other, are always found together. These savages, like Lear, had
thrown “physic to the dogs;” and when attacked by disease preferred
the priest or the magician to the doctor. The priests, hoping to drive
disease out of their neighbour’s body by admitting the Devil into their
own, repaired, when called upon, to the chamber of the sick person; and
there sung, danced, leaped, and raved, until a demon, in the language of
the initiated, or, in other words, weariness, seized upon them, when they
discontinued their violent gestures, and consented to be interrogated.
Their answer, of course, was, that the patient had offended some god, who
was to be propitiated with sacrifice, which consisted partly in offering
up a portion of the patient’s blood, not to the goddess Phlebotomy, as
with us, but to some member of the Olympian synod whose fame has not
reached posterity. In addition to this, a certain number of rams with
black heads were sacrificed, their blood sprinkled in the air for the
benefit of the gods, and a great number of candles having been lighted
up, and the house thoroughly perfumed with incense and wood of aloes, the
priests sat down with their wives and families to dinner; and if after
all this the sick man would persist in dying, it was no fault of theirs.
Destiny alone was to blame.
The next journey which Marco Polo undertook, after his return from Tibet,
was into the kingdom of Mangi, or Southern China, subdued by the arms
of the khan in 1269. Fanfur, the monarch, who had reigned previous to
the irruption of the Mongols, is represented as a mild, beneficent,
and peaceful prince, intent upon maintaining justice and internal
tranquillity in his dominions; but wanting in energy, and neglectful
of the means of national defence. During the latter years of his reign
he had abandoned himself, like another Sardanapalus, to sensuality
and voluptuousness; though, when the storm of war burst upon him, he
exhibited far less magnanimity than that Assyrian Sybarite; flying
pusillanimously to his fleet with all his wealth, and relinquishing the
defence of the capital to his queen, who, as a woman, had nothing to fear
from the cruelty of the conqueror. A foolish story, no doubt invented
after the fall of the city, is said to have inspired the queen with
confidence, and encouraged her to resist the besiegers: the soothsayers,
or haruspices, had assured Fanfur, in the days of his prosperity, that no
man not possessing a hundred eyes should ever deprive him of his kingdom.
Learning, however, with dismay that the name of the Tartar general now
besieging the place signified “the Hundred-eyed,” she perceived the
fulfilment of the prediction, and surrendered up the city. Kublai Khan,
agreeably to the opinion of Fanfur, conducted himself liberally towards
the captive queen; who, being conveyed to Cambalu, was received and
treated in a manner suitable to her former dignity. The dwarf-minded
emperor died about a year after, a fugitive and a vagabond upon the earth.
The capital of Southern China, called Quinsai, or Kinsai, by Marco
Polo, a name signifying the “Celestial City,” was a place of prodigious
magnitude, being, according to the reports of the Chinese, not less than
one hundred miles in circumference. This rough estimate of the extent of
Kinsai, though beyond doubt considerably exaggerated, is after all not so
very incredible as may at first appear. Within this circumference, if the
place was constructed after the usual fashion of a Chinese city, would be
included parks and gardens of immense extent, vast open spaces for the
evolutions of the troops, besides the ten market-places, each two miles
in circumference, mentioned by Marco Polo, and many other large spaces
not covered with houses. By these means Kinsai might have been nearly
one hundred miles in circuit, without approaching London in riches or
population. That modern travellers have found no trace of such amazing
extent in Hang-chen, Kua-hing, or whatever city they determine Kinsai
to have been, by no means invalidates the assertion of Marco Polo; for
considering the revolutions which China has undergone, and the perishable
materials of the ordinary dwellings of its inhabitants, we may look upon
the space of nearly six hundred years as more than sufficient to have
changed the site of Kinsai into a desert. Were the seat of government to
be removed from Calcutta to Agra or Delhi, the revolution of one century
would reduce that “City of Palaces,” to a miserable village, or wholly
bury it in the pestilential bog from which its sumptuous but perishable
edifices originally rose like an exhalation.
I will suppose, therefore, in spite of geographical skepticism, that
Kinsai fell very little short of the magnitude which the Chinese, not
Marco Polo, attributed to it. The city was nearly surrounded by water,
having on one side a great river, and on the other side a lake, while
innumerable canals, intersecting it in all directions, rendered the
very streets navigable, as it were, like those of Venice, and floated
away all filth into the channel of the river. Twelve thousand bridges,
great and small, were thrown over these canals, beneath which barks,
boats, and barges, bearing a numerous aquatic population, continually
passed to and fro; while horsemen dashed along, and chariots rolled from
street to street, above. Three days in every week the peasantry from
all the country round poured into the city, to the number of forty or
fifty thousand, bringing in the productions of the earth, with cattle,
fowls, game, and every species of provision necessary for the subsistence
of so mighty a population. Though provisions were so cheap, however,
that two geese, or four ducks, might be purchased for a Venetian groat,
the poor were reduced to so miserable a state of wretchedness that
they gladly devoured the flesh of the most unclean animals, and every
species of disgusting offal. The markets were supplied with an abundance
of most kinds of fruit, among which a pear of peculiar fragrance, and
white and gold peaches, were the most exquisite. Raisins and wine were
imported from other provinces; but from the ocean, which was no more than
twenty-five miles distant, so great a profusion of fish was brought,
that, at first sight, it seemed as if it could never be consumed, though
it all disappeared in a few hours.
Around the immense market-places were the shops of the jewellers and
spice-merchants; and in the adjoining streets were numerous hot and cold
baths, with all the apparatus which belong to those establishments in
eastern countries. These places, as the inhabitants bathed every day,
were well frequented, and the attendants accustomed to the business from
their childhood exceedingly skilful in the performance of their duties.
A trait which marks the voluptuous temperament of the Chinese occurs in
the account of this city. An incredible number of courtesans, splendidly
attired, perfumed, and living with a large establishment of servants in
spacious and magnificent houses, were found at Kinsai; and, like their
sisters in ancient Greece, were skilled in all those arts which captivate
and enslave enervated minds. The tradesmen possessed great wealth, and
appeared in their shops sumptuously dressed in silks, in addition to
which their wives adorned themselves with costly jewels. Their houses
were well built, and contained pictures and other ornaments of immense
value. In their dealings they were remarkable for their integrity, and
great suavity and decorum appeared in their manners. Notwithstanding the
gentleness of their disposition, however, their hatred of their Mongol
conquerors, who had deprived them of their independence and the more
congenial rule of their native princes, was not to be disguised.
All the streets were paved with stone, while the centre was macadamized,
a mark of civilization not yet to be found in Paris, or many other
European capitals, any more than the cleanliness which accompanied it.
Hackney-coaches with silk cushions, public gardens, and shady walks were
among the luxuries of the people of Kinsai; while, as Mr. Kerr very
sensibly remarks, the delights of European capitals were processions of
monks among perpetual dunghills in narrow crooked lanes. Still, in the
midst of all this wealth and luxury, poverty and tremendous suffering
existed, compelling parents to sell their children, and when no buyers
appeared, to expose them to death. Twenty thousand infants thus deserted
were annually snatched from destruction by the Emperor Fanfur, and
maintained and educated until they could provide for themselves.
Marco Polo’s opportunities for studying the customs and manners of this
part of the empire were such as no other European has ever enjoyed,
as, through the peculiar affection of the Great Khan, he was appointed
governor of one of its principal cities, and exercised this authority
during three years. Yet, strange to say, he makes no mention of tea,
and alludes only once, and that but slightly, to the manufacture of
porcelain. These omissions, however, are in all probability not to be
attributed to him, but to the heedlessness or ignorance of transcribers
and copyists, who, not knowing what to make of the terms, boldly omitted
them. The most remarkable manufacture of porcelain in his time appears
to have been at a city which he calls Trinqui, situated on one branch of
the river which flowed to Zaitum, supposed to be the modern Canton. Here
he was informed a certain kind of earth or clay was thrown up into vast
conical heaps, where it remained exposed to the action of the atmosphere
for thirty or forty years, after which, refined, as he says, by time, it
was manufactured into dishes, which were painted and baked in furnaces.
Having now remained many years in China, the Polos began to feel the
desire of revisiting their home revive within their souls; and this
desire was strengthened by reflecting upon the great age of the khan,
in the event of whose death it was possible they might never be able to
depart from the country, at least with the amazing wealth which they
had amassed during their long residence. One day, therefore, when they
observed Kublai to be in a remarkably good-humour, Nicolo, who seems
to have enjoyed a very free access to the chamber of the sovereign,
ventured to entreat permission to return home with his family. The khan,
however, who, being himself at home, could comprehend nothing of that
secret and almost mysterious power by which man is drawn back from the
remotest corners of the earth towards the scene of his childhood, and
who, perhaps, imagined that gold could confer irresistible charms upon
any country, was extremely displeased at the request. He had, in fact,
become attached to the men, and his unwillingness to part with them was
as natural as their desire to go. To turn them from all thoughts of the
undertaking, he dwelt upon the length and danger of the journey; and
added, that if more wealth was what they coveted, they had but to speak,
and he would gratify their utmost wishes, by bestowing upon them twice as
much as they already possessed; but that his affection would not allow
him to part with them.
Providence, however, which under the name of chance or accident so
frequently befriends the perplexed, now came to their aid. Not long
after the unsuccessful application of Nicolo, ambassadors arrived at
the court of the Great Khan, from Argûn, Sultan of Persia, demanding
a princess of the imperial blood for their master, whose late queen
on her deathbed had requested him to choose a wife from among her
relations in Cathay. Kublai consented; and the ambassadors departed with
a youthful princess on their way to Persia. When they had proceeded
eight months through the wilds of Tartary, their course was stopped by
bloody wars; and they were constrained to return with the princess to
the court of the khan. Here they heard of Marco, who had likewise just
returned from an expedition into India by sea, describing the facility
which navigation afforded of maintaining an intercourse between that
country and China. The ambassadors now procured an interview with
the Venetians, who consented, if the permission of the khan could be
obtained, to conduct them by sea to the dominions of their sovereign.
With great reluctance the khan at length yielded to their solicitation;
and having commanded Nicolo, Maffio, and Marco into his presence, and
lavished upon them every possible token of his affection and esteem,
constituting them his ambassadors to the pope and the other princes of
Europe, he caused a tablet of gold to be delivered to them, upon which
were engraven his commands that they should be allowed free and secure
passage through all his dominions; that all their expenses, as well as
those of their attendants, should be defrayed; and that they should be
provided with guides and escorts wherever these might be necessary. He
then exacted from them a promise that when they should have passed some
time in Christendom among their friends, they would return to him, and
affectionately dismissed them.
Fourteen ships with four masts, of which four or five were so large that
they carried from two hundred and fifty to two hundred and sixty men,
were provided for their voyage; and on board of this fleet they embarked
with the queen and the ambassadors, and sailed away from China. It was
probably from the officers of these ships, or from those with whom he
had made his former voyage to India, that Marco Polo learned what little
he knew of the great island of Zipangri or Japan. It was about fifteen
hundred miles distant, as he was informed, from the shores of China. The
people were fair, gentle in their manners, and governed by their own
princes. Gold, its exportation being prohibited, was plentiful among
them; so plentiful, indeed, that the roof of the prince’s palace was
covered with it, as churches in Europe sometimes are with lead, while the
windows and floors were of the same metal. The prodigious opulence of
this country tempted the ambition or rapacity of Kublai Khan, who with a
vast fleet and army attempted to annex it with his empire, but without
success. It was Marco’s brief description of this insular El Dorado which
is supposed to have kindled the spirit of discovery and adventure in
the great soul of Columbus. Gentle as the manners of the Japanese are
said to have been, neither they nor the Chinese themselves could escape
the charge of cannibalism, which appears to be among barbarians what
heresy was in Europe during the middle ages, the crime of which every one
accuses his bitterest enemy. The innumerable islands scattered through
the surrounding ocean were said to abound with spices and groves of
odoriferous wood.
The vast islands and thickly-sprinkled archipelagoes which rear up
their verdant and scented heads among the waters of the Indian ocean,
now successively presented themselves to the observant eye of our
traveller, and appeared like another world. Ziambar, with its woods
of ebony; Borneo, with its spices and its gold; Lokak, with its sweet
fruits, its Brazil wood, and its elephants;—these were the new and
strange countries at which they touched on the way to Java the less,
or Sumatra. This island, which he describes as two thousand miles in
circumference, was divided into eight kingdoms, six of which he visited
and curiously examined. Some portion of the inhabitants had been
converted to Mohammedanism; but numerous tribes still roamed in a savage
state among the mountains, feeding upon human flesh and every unclean
animal, and worshipping as a god the first object which met their eyes
in the morning. Among one of these wild races a very extraordinary
practice prevailed: whenever any individual was stricken with sickness,
his relations immediately inquired of the priests or magicians whether
he would recover or not; and if answered in the negative, the patient
was instantly strangled, cut in pieces, and devoured, even to the very
marrow of the bones. This, they alleged, was to prevent the generation
of worms in any portion of the body, which, by gnawing and defacing it,
would torture the soul of the dead. The bones were carefully concealed in
the caves of the mountains. Strangers, from the same humane motive, were
eaten in an equally friendly way.
Here were numerous rhinoceroses, camphor, which sold for its weight in
gold, and lofty trees, ten or twelve feet in circumference, from the
pith of which a kind of meal was made. This pith, having been broken
into pieces, was cast into vessels filled with water, where the light
innutritious parts floated upon the top, while the finer and more solid
descended to the bottom. The former was skimmed off and thrown away, but
the latter, in taste not unlike barley-bread, was wrought into a kind of
paste, and eaten. This was the sago, the first specimen of which ever
seen in Europe was brought to Venice by Marco Polo. The wood of the tree,
which was heavy and sunk in water like iron, was used in making spears.
From Sumatra they sailed to the Nicobar and Andaman islands, the natives
of which were naked and bestial savages, though the country produced
excellent cloves, cocoanuts, Brazil wood, red and white sandal wood, and
various kinds of spices. They next touched at Ceylon, which appeared to
Marco Polo, and not altogether without reason, to be the finest island in
the world. Here no grain, except rice, was cultivated; but the country
produced a profusion of oil, sesamum, milk, flesh, palm wine, sapphires,
topazes, amethysts, and the best rubies in the world. Of this last kind
of gem the King of Ceylon was said to possess the finest specimen in
existence, the stone being as long as a man’s hand, of corresponding
thickness, and glowing like fire. The wonders of Adam’s Peak Marco
Polo heard of, but did not behold. His account of the pearl-fishery he
likewise framed from report.
From Ceylon they proceeded towards the Persian Gulf, touching in their
way upon the coast of the Carnatic, where Marco learned some particulars
respecting the Hindoos; as, that they were an unwarlike people, who
imported horses from Ormus, and generally abstained from beef; that their
rich men were carried about in palankeens; and that from motives of the
origin of which he was ignorant, every man carefully preserved his own
drinking-vessels from the touch of another.
At length, after a voyage of eighteen months, they arrived in the
dominions of Argûn, but found that that prince was dead, the heir to the
throne a minor, and the functions of government exercised by a regent.
They delivered the princess, who was now nearly nineteen, to Kazan, the
son of Argûn; and having been magnificently entertained for nine months
by the regent, who presented them at parting with four tablets of gold,
each a cubit long and five fingers broad, they continued their journey
through Kurdistan and Mingrelia, to Trebizond, where they embarked upon
the Black Sea; and, sailing down the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, crossed
the Ægean, touched at Negropont, and arrived safely at Venice, in the
year 1295.
On repairing to their own house, however, in the street of St.
Chrysostom, they had the mortification to find themselves entirely
forgotten by all their old acquaintance and countrymen; and even their
nearest relations, who upon report of their death had taken possession of
their palace, either could not or would not recognise them. Forty-five
years had no doubt operated strange changes in the persons of Nicolo
and Maffio; and even Marco, who had left his home in the flower of
his youth, and now returned after an absence of twenty-four years, a
middle-aged man, storm-beaten, and bronzed by the force of tropical
suns, must have been greatly altered. Besides, they had partly forgotten
their native language, which they pronounced with a barbarous accent,
intermingling Tartar words, and setting the rules of syntax at defiance.
Their dress, air, and demeanour, likewise, were Tartarian. To convince
the incredulous, however, and prove their identity, they invited all
their relations and old associates to a magnificent entertainment, at
which the three travellers appeared attired in rich eastern habits of
crimson satin. When all the guests were seated, the Polos put off their
satin garments, which they bestowed upon the attendants, still appearing
superbly dressed in robes of crimson damask. At the removal of the last
course but one of the entertainment, they distributed their damask
garments also upon the attendants, these having merely concealed far
more magnificent robes of crimson velvet. When dinner was over, and the
attendants had withdrawn, Marco Polo exhibited to the company the coats
of coarse Tartarian cloth, or felt, which his father, his uncle, and
himself had usually worn during their travels. These he now cut open,
and from their folds and linings took out so prodigious a quantity of
rubies, sapphires, emeralds, carbuncles, and diamonds, that the company,
amazed and delighted with the beauty and splendour of these magnificent
and invaluable gems, no longer hesitated to acknowledge the claims of the
Polos, who, by the same arguments, might have proved their identity with
Prester John and his family.
The news of their arrival now rapidly circulated through Venice, and
crowds of persons of all ranks, attracted, partly by their immense
wealth, partly by the strangeness of their recitals, flocked to their
palace to see and congratulate them upon their return. The whole family
was universally treated with distinction, and Maffio, the elder of
the brothers, became one of the principal magistrates of the city.
Marco, as being the youngest, and probably the most communicative of
the three, was earnestly sought after by the young noblemen of Venice,
whom he entertained and astonished by his descriptions of the strange
and marvellous things he had beheld; and as in speaking of the subjects
and revenues of the Great Khan he was frequently compelled to count by
millions, he obtained among his companions the name of _Marco Millione_.
In the time of Ramusio the Polo palace still existed in the street of
St. Chrysostom, and was popularly known by the name of the _Corte del
Millioni_. Some writers, however, have supposed that this surname was
bestowed on the Polos on account of their extraordinary riches.
Marco Polo had not been many months at Venice before the news arrived
that a Genoese fleet, under the command of Lampa Doria, had appeared near
the island of Curzola, on the coast of Dalmatia. The republic, alarmed
at the intelligence, immediately sent out a numerous fleet against the
enemy, in which Marco Polo, as an experienced mariner, was intrusted with
the command of a galley. The two fleets soon came to an engagement, when
Marco, with that intrepid courage which had carried him safely through
so many dangers, advanced with his galley before the rest of the fleet,
with the design of breaking the enemy’s squadron. The Venetians, however,
who were quickly defeated, wanted the energy to second his boldness; and
Marco, who had been wounded in the engagement, was taken prisoner and
carried to Genoa.
Here, as at Venice, the extraordinary nature of his adventures, the
_naïveté_ of his descriptions, and the amiableness of his character soon
gained him friends, who not only delighted in his conversation, but
exerted all their powers to soften the rigours of his captivity. Day
after day new auditors flocked around this new Ulysses, anxious to hear
from his own lips an account of the magnificence and grandeur of Kublai
Khan, and of the vast empire of the Mongols. Wearied at length, however,
with for ever repeating the same things, he determined, in pursuance of
the advice of his new friends, to write the history of his travels; and
sending to Venice for the original notes which he had made while in the
East, compiled or dictated the brief work which has immortalized his
memory. The work was completed in the year 1298, when it may also be said
to have been published, as numerous copies were made and circulated.
Meanwhile, his father and uncle, who had hitherto looked to Marco for
the continuation of the Polo family, and who had vainly endeavoured by
the offer of large sums of money to redeem him from captivity, began
to deliberate upon the course which they ought to adopt under the
present circumstances; and it was resolved that Nicolo, the younger
and more vigorous of the two, should himself marry. Four years after
this marriage, Marco was set at liberty at the intercession of the most
illustrious citizens of Genoa; but on returning to Venice he found that
three new members had been added to the Polo family during his absence,
his father having had so many sons by his young wife. Marco continued,
however, to live in the greatest harmony and happiness with his new
relations; and shortly afterward marrying himself, had two daughters,
Maretta and Fantina, but no sons. Upon the death of his father, Marco
erected a monument to his memory in the portico of the church of St.
Lorenzo, with an inscription stating that it was built in honour of the
traveller’s father. Neither the exact date of his father’s death nor
of his own has hitherto been ascertained; but it is supposed that our
illustrious traveller’s decease took place either in the year 1323 or
1324. According to Mr. Marsden’s opinion, he was then seventy years of
age; but if we follow the opinion of the majority of writers, and of M.
Walkenaer among the rest, he must have attained the age of seventy-three
or seventy-four. The male line of the Polos became extinct in 1417, and
the only surviving female was married to a member of the noble house of
Trevisino, one of the most illustrious in Venice.
When the travels of Marco Polo first appeared, they were generally
regarded as a fiction; and this absurd belief had so far gained ground,
that when he lay upon his deathbed, his friends and nearest relatives,
coming to take their eternal adieu, conjured him, as he valued the
salvation of his soul, to retract whatever he had advanced in his
book, or at least such passages as every person looked upon as untrue;
but the traveller, whose conscience was untroubled upon that score,
declared solemnly in that awful moment, that far from being guilty of
exaggeration, he had not described one-half of the wonderful things
which he had beheld. Such was the reception which the discoveries of
this extraordinary man experienced when first promulgated. By degrees,
however, as enterprise lifted more and more the veil from central and
eastern Asia, the relations of our traveller rose in the estimation
of geographers; and now that the world, though still containing many
unknown tracts, has been more successfully explored, we begin to perceive
that Marco Polo, like Herodotus, was a man of the most rigid veracity,
whose testimony presumptuous ignorance alone can call in question.
To relate the history of our traveller’s work since its first publication
would be a long and a dry task. It was translated during his lifetime
into Latin (for the opinion of Ramusio that it was originally composed
in that language seems to be absurd), as well as into several modern
languages of Europe; and as many of those versions were made, according
to tradition, under the author’s own direction, he is thought to have
inserted some numerous particulars which were wanting in others; and in
this way the variations of the different manuscripts are accounted for.
The number of the translations of Marco Polo is extraordinary; one in
Portuguese, two in Spanish, three in German, three in French, three or
four in Latin, one in Dutch, and seven in English. Of all these numerous
versions, that of Mr. Marsden is generally allowed to be incomparably
the best, whether the correctness of the text or the extent, riches, and
variety of the commentary be considered.