THE END OF MEDIAEVAL EXPLORATION
The two names of Ibn Batuta and Sir John Mandeville now conclude our
mediaeval period of travel to the Eastward. Both the Arab and the
Englishman date their travels between the years 1325 and 1355; but
while Ibn Batuta, the traveller from Tangiers, adds very valuable
information to our geographical knowledge, we have to lay the travel
volumes of Sir John Mandeville aside and acknowledge sadly that his
book is made up of borrowed experiences, that he has wantonly added
fiction to fact, and distorted even the travel stories told by other
travellers. And yet, strange to say, while the work of Ibn Batuta
remains entirely disregarded, the delightful work of the Englishman
is still read vigorously to-day and translated into nearly every
European language. In it we read strange stories of Prester John, "the
great Emperor of India, who is served by seven kings, seventy-two dukes,
and three hundred and sixty earls"; he speaks of the "isle of Cathay":
he repeats the legend of the island near Java on which Adam and Eve
wept for one hundred years after they had been driven from Paradise;
he speaks of giants thirty feet high, and of Pigmies who came dancing
to see him.
[Illustration: SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE ON HIS TRAVELS. From a MS. in the
British Museum.]
We turn to the Arab traveller for a solid document, which rings more
true, and we cannot doubt his accounts of shipwreck and hardships
encountered by the way. Ibn Batuta left Tangiers in the year 1324 at
the early age of twenty-one on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He made his way
across the north of Africa to Alexandria. Here history relates he met
a learned and pious man named Imam.
"I perceive," said Imam, "that you are fond of visiting distant
countries?"
"That is so," answered Ibn Batuta.
"Then you must visit my brother in India, my brother in Persia, and
my brother in China, and when you see them present my compliments to
them."
Ibn Batuta left Alexandria with a resolve to visit these three persons,
and indeed, wonderful to say, he found them all three and presented
to them their brother's compliments.
He reached Mecca and remained there for three years, after which he
voyaged down the Red Sea to Aden, a port of much trade. Coasting along
the east coast of Africa, he reached Mombasa, from which port, so soon
to fall into the hands of the Portuguese, he sailed to Ormuz, a "city
on the seashore," at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Here he tells
us of the head of a fish "that might be compared to a hill: its eyes
were like two doors, so that people could go in at one eye and out
at the other." Crossing central Arabia and the Black Sea, he found
himself for the first time in a Christian city, and was much dismayed
at all the bells ringing. He was anxious to go north through Russia
to the Land of Darkness, of which he had heard such wonderful tales.
It was a land where there were neither trees, nor stones, nor houses,
where dogs with nails in their feet drew little sledges across the
ice. Instead he went to Constantinople, arriving at sunset when the
bells were ringing so loud "that the very horizon shook with the noise."
Ibn was presented to the Emperor as a remarkable traveller, and a letter
of safe conduct was given to him.
He then made his way through Bokhara and Herat, Kandahar and Kabul,
over the Hindu Koosh and across the Indus to Delhi, "the greatest city
in the world." But at this time it was a howling wilderness, as the
inhabitants had fled from the cruelty of the Turkish Emperor. Into
his presence our traveller was now called and graciously received.
"The lord of the world appoints you to the office of judge in Delhi,"
said the Emperor; "he gives you a dress of honour with a saddled horse
and a large yearly salary."
Ibn held this office for eight years, till one day the Emperor called
him and said: "I wish to send you as ambassador to the Emperor of China,
for I know you are fond of travelling in foreign countries."
The Emperor of China had sent presents of great value to the Emperor
of India, who was now anxious to return the compliment. Quaint, indeed,
were the gifts from India to China. There were one hundred high-bred
horses, one hundred dancing girls, one hundred pieces of cotton stuff,
also silk and wool, some black, some white, blue-green or blue. There
were swords of state and golden candlesticks, silver basins, brocade
dresses, and gloves embroidered with pearls. But so many adventures
did Ibn Batuta have on his way to China that it is certain that none
of these things ever reached that country, for eighty miles from Delhi
the cavalcade was attacked and Ibn was robbed of all he had. For days
he wandered alone in a forest, living on leaves, till he was rescued
more dead than alive, and carried back to Delhi. The second start was
also unfortunate. By a circuitous route he made his way to Calicut
on the Malabar coast, where he made a stay of three months till the
monsoons should permit him to take ship for China. The harbour of
Calicut was full of great Chinese ships called junks. These junks
struck him as unlike anything he had seen before. "The sails are made
of cane reed woven together like a mat, which, when they put into port,
they leave standing in the wind. In some of these vessels there will
be a thousand men, sailors and soldiers. Built in the ports of China
only, they are rowed with large oars, which may be compared to great
masts. On board are wooden houses in which the higher officials reside
with their wives."
[Illustration: AN EMPEROR OF TARTARY. From the map ascribed to
Sebastian Cabot, 1544.]
The time of the voyage came; thirteen huge junks were taken, and the
imperial presents were embarked. All was ready for a start on the morrow.
Ibn stayed on shore praying in the mosque till starting-time. That
night a violent hurricane arose and most of the ships in the harbour
were destroyed. Treasure, crew, and officers all perished, and Ibn
was left alone and almost penniless. He feared to return to Delhi,
so he took ship, which landed him on one of a group of a thousand islands,
which Ibn calls "one of the wonders of the world." The chief island
was governed by a woman. Here he was made a judge, and soon became
a great personage. But after a time he grew restless and set sail for
Sumatra. Here at the court of the king, who was a zealous disciple
of Mohammed, Ibn met with a kind reception, and after a fortnight,
provided with provisions, the "restless Mohammedan" again voyaged
northwards into the "Calm Sea," or the Pacific as we call it now. It
was so still, "disturbed by neither wind nor waves," that the ship
had to be towed by a smaller ship till they reached China.
"This is a vast country," writes Ibn, "and it abounds in all sorts
of good things--fruit, corn, gold, and silver. It is traversed by a
great river--the Waters of Life--which runs through the heart of China
for a distance of six months' journey. It is bordered with villages,
cultivated plains, orchards, and markets, just like the Nile in
Egypt."
Ibn gives an amusing account of the Chinese poultry. "The cocks and
hens are bigger than our geese. I one day bought a hen," he says, "which
I wanted to boil, but one pot would not hold it and I was obliged to
take two. As for the cocks in China, they are as big as ostriches."
"'Pooh,' cried an owner of Chinese fowls, 'there are cocks in China
much bigger than that,' and I found he had said no more than the truth."
"Silk is very plentiful, for the worms which produce it require little
attention. They have silk in such abundance that it is used for clothing
even by poor monks and beggars. The people of China do not use gold
and silver coin in their commercial dealings. Their buying and selling
is carried on by means of pieces of paper about the size of the palm
of the hand, carrying the seal of the Emperor." The Arab traveller
has much to say about the superb painting of China. They study and
paint every stranger that visits their country, and the portrait thus
taken is exposed on the city wall. Thus, should a stranger do anything
to make flight necessary, his portrait would be sent out into every
province and he would soon be discovered.
"China is the safest as well as the pleasantest of all the regions
on the earth for a traveller. You may travel the whole nine months'
journey to which the Empire extends without the slightest cause to
fear, even if you have treasure in your charge. But it afforded me
no pleasure. On the contrary, my spirit was sorely troubled within
me to see how Paganism had the upper hand."
[Illustration: A CARAVAN IN CATHAY. From the Catalan map, 1375.]
Troubles now broke out among the Khan's family, which led to civil
wars and the death of the Great Khan. He was buried with great pomp.
A deep chamber was dug in the earth, into which a beautiful couch was
placed, on which was laid the dead Khan with his arms and all his rich
apparel, the earth over him being heaped to the height of a large hill.
Batuta now hurried from the country, took a junk to Sumatra, thence
to Calicut and by Ormuz home to Tangier, where he arrived in 1348.
He had done what he set forth to do. He had visited the three brothers
of Imam in Persia, India, and China. In addition he had travelled for
twenty-four years and accomplished in all about seventy-five thousand
miles.
With him the history of mediaeval exploration would seem to end, for
within eighty years of his death the modern epoch opens with the
energies and enthusiasm of Prince Henry of Portugal.
For the last few centuries we have found all travel undertaken more
or less as a religious crusade.
So far during the last centuries, travel had been for the most part
by land. Few discoveries had been made by sea. Voyages were too
difficult and dangerous. The Phoenicians had ventured far with
intrepid courage. The Vikings had tossed fearlessly over their stormy
northern seas to the yet unknown land of America, but this was long
ago. Throughout the Middle Ages hardly a sail was to be seen on the
vast Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, no ships ventured on what was held
to be the Sea of Darkness, no man was emboldened to risk life and money
on the unknown waters beyond his own safe home.