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The Travels of Marco Polo Novel Chapters
List of most recent chapters published for the The Travels of Marco Polo novel. A total of 286 chapters have been translated and the release date of the last chapter is Apr 02, 2024
Latest Release: Chapter 1 : The Travels of Marco Polo.by Marco Polo and Rustich.e.l.lo of Pisa.VOLUME I PREFACE.The
The Travels of Marco Polo.by Marco Polo and Rustich.e.l.lo of Pisa.VOLUME I PREFACE.The amount of appropriate material, and of acquaintance with the mediaeval geography of some parts of Asia, which was acquired during the compilation of a work of kindred
- 86 C. Sanang Setzen several times mentions a city called _Irghai_, _apparently_ in Tangut; but all we can gather as to his position is that it seems to have lain east of Kanchau.We perceive that the _Arbaca_ of P. de la Croix, the _Eyircai_ of Klaproth, the
- 85 I may notice that the structure of the name Ergui-ul or Ergiu-ul, has a look of a.n.a.logy to that of _Tang-keu-ul_, named in the next note.["Erguiul is Erichew of the Mongol text of the _Yuen ch'ao pi s.h.i.+_, Si-liang in the Chinese history,
- 84 NOTE 3.--This is a Chinese custom, though no doubt we may trust Marco for its being a Tartar one also. "In the province of Shansi they have a ridiculous custom, which is to marry dead folks to each other. F. Michael Trigault, a Jesuit, who lived seve
- 83 CHAPTER LIV.CONCERNING THE TARTAR CUSTOMS OF WAR.All their harness of war is excellent and costly. Their arms are bows and arrows, sword and mace; but above all the bow, for they are capital archers, indeed the best that are known. On their backs they wea
- 82 The marriage customs of Tartars are as follows. Any man may take a hundred wives an he so please, and if he be able to keep them. But the first wife is ever held most in honour, and as the most legitimate [and the same applies to the sons whom she may bea
- 81 I will now tell you who reigned after Chinghis, and then about the manners and customs of the Tartars.NOTE 1.--Chinghiz in fact survived Aung Khan some 24 years, dying during his fifth expedition against Tangut, 18th August 1227, aged 65 according to the
- 80 [7] _Continuatio Ann. Admutensium_, in Pertz, Scriptores, IX. 580.[8] E.g. ii. 42.[9] _St. Martin, Mem. sur l'Armenie_, II. 77.[10] ["The Keraits," says Mr. Rockhill (_Rubruck_, 111, note), "lived on the Orkhon and the Tula, south-east
- 79 A plan of Kara Balgasun is given (plate 27) in _Radloff's Atlas_. See also _Henri Cordier et Gaubil, Situation de Holin en Tartarie_, Leide, 1893.In Rubruquis's account of Karakorum there is one pa.s.sage of great interest: "Then master Wil
- 78 King Haython (Brosset's ed. p. 181) mentions the statue in clay, of an extraordinary height, of a G.o.d (Buddha) aged 3040 years, who is to live 370,000 years more, when he will be superseded by another G.o.d called _Madri_ (Maitreya).--H. C.][Ill.u.
- 77 (_Sir T. Browne_, I. 293; _Bongars_, I. 1104; _Cahier et Martin_, III.271; _Cardan, de Rer. Varietate_, VII. 33; _Alb. Mag. Opera_, 1551, II.227, 233; _Fr. Michel, Recherches_, etc., II. 91; _Gerv. of Tilbury_, p.13; _N. et E._ II. 493; _D. des Tissus_, I
- 76 Kamul stands on an oasis carefully cultivated by aid of reservoirs for irrigation, and is noted in China for its rice and for some of its fruits, especially melons and grapes. It is still a place of some consequence, standing near the bifurcation of two g
- 75 iv.; _Prairies d'Or_, III. 315, 324; _Beale's Fahian_; _Campbell's Popular Tales of the W. Highlands_, IV. 326; _I. B._ IV. 382; _Elphinstone_, I.291; _Chodzko's Pop. Poetry of Persia_, p. 48; _Conti_, p. 4; _Forsyth, J.R. G. S._ XLVII
- 74 G. S._ vol. xvi. pp. 244-249; _J. A. S. B._ IV. 656; _H. de la V. de Khotan_, u.s.) [The Charchan of Marco Polo seems to have been built to the west of the present oasis, a little south of the road to Kiria, where ruined houses have been found. It must ha
- 73 The remains of the ancient capital of Khotan were accidentally discovered, some thirty-five years ago, at Yotkan, a village of the Borazan Tract. A great ma.s.s of highly interesting finds of ancient art pottery, engraved stones, and early Khotan coins wi
- 72 NOTE 1.--Of Kaidu, Kublai Kaan's kinsman and rival, and their long wars, we shall have to speak later. He had at this time a kind of joint occupancy of SAMARKAND and Bokhara with the Khans of Chagatai, his cousins.[On Samarkand generally see: _Samarq
- 71 With regard to the effect upon fire ascribed to the "great cold,"Ramusio's version inserts the expression "_gli fu affermato per miracolo_," "it was a.s.serted to him as a wonderful circ.u.mstance." And Humboldt thinks i
- 70 CHAPTER x.x.xII.OF THE GREAT RIVER OF BADASHAN.In leaving Badashan you ride twelve days between east and north-east, ascending a river that runs through land belonging to a brother of the Prince of Badashan, and containing a good many towns and villages a
- 69 NOTE 1.--The name of PASHAI has already occurred (see ch. xviii.) linked with DIR, as indicating a tract, apparently of very rugged and difficult character, through which the partizan leader Nigudar pa.s.sed in making an incursion from Badakhshan towards
- 68 Those mountains are so lofty that 'tis a hard day's work, from morning till evening, to get to the top of them. On getting up, you find an extensive plain, with great abundance of gra.s.s and trees, and copious springs of pure water running down
- 67 (_Erdmann_, 404-405; _I. B._ III. 59; _Clavijo_, p. 117; _Burnes_, II.204-206; _Ferrier_, 206-207.) According to the legendary history of Alexander, the beautiful Roxana was the daughter of Darius, and her father in a dying interview with Alexander reques
- 66 [1] This story has been transferred to Peter the Great, who is alleged to have exhibited the docility of his subjects in the same way to the King of Denmark, by ordering a Cossack to jump from the Round Tower at Copenhagen, on the summit of which they wer
- 65 [5] Trees.[6] Opobalsamum.[7] A recent traveler in China gives a perfectly similar description of sacred trees in Shansi. Many bore inscriptions in large letters. "If you pray, you will certainly be heard."--_Rev. A. Williamson_, _Journeys in N.
- 64 Test. Pseud._, etc., I. 1133; _Dante, Purgat._ x.x.xii. 35.) But why does Polo bring this _Arbre Sec_ into connection with the Sun Tree of the Alexandrian Legend? I cannot answer this to my own entire satisfaction, but I can show that such a connection ha
- 63 [General A. Houtum-Schindler (_Jour. R. As. Soc._ N.S. XIII. October, 1881, p. 497) says: "The name Tutia for collyrium is now not used in Kerman. Tutia, when the name stands alone, is sulphate of copper, which in other parts of Persia is known as Ka
- 62 We find in Teixeira that the ruler who succeeded in 1290 was _Amir Masa'ud_, who obtained the Government by the murder of his brother Saifuddin Nazrat. Masa'ud was cruel and oppressive; most of the influential people withdrew to Bahauddin Ayaz,
- 61 C.] The actual distance from Bamm to the City of Dakia.n.u.s is, by Abbott's Journal, about 66 miles.The name of REOBARLES, which Marco applies to the plain intermediate between the two descents, has given rise to many conjectures. Marsden pointed to
- 60 _MS. Note_, H. Y.) The belief that such opportune phenomena were produced by enchantment was a thoroughly Tartar one. D'Herbelot relates (art. _Giagathai_) that in an action with a rebel called Mahomed Tarabi, the Mongols were encompa.s.sed by a dust
- 59 After you have ridden down hill those two days, you find yourself in a vast plain, and at the beginning thereof there is a city called CAMADI, which formerly was a great and n.o.ble place, but now is of little consequence, for the Tartars in their incursi
- 58 (See _Reinaud, Mem. sur l'Inde_, 171; also _Sprenger P. and R. R._ 77.) According to Khanikoff it is 5535 feet above the sea.Kerman, on the fall of the Beni Buya Dynasty, in the middle of the 11th century, came into the hands of a branch of the Selju
- 57 s. vol. ii. 355.) But a note by Colonel Pelly informs me that the name Shabankara is still applied (1) to the district round the towns of Runiz and Gauristan near Bandar Abbas; (2) to a village near Maiman, in the old country of the tribe; (3) to a _tribe
- 56 NOTE 1.--"_Mire_." This was in old French the popular word for a Leech; the politer word was _Physicien_. (_N. et E._ V. 505.) Chrysostom says that the Gold, Myrrh, and Frankincense were mystic gifts indicating King, Man, G.o.d; and this interpr
- 55 Ramusio's text adds here: "All the Nestorian and Jacobite Christians from that time forward have maintained a solemn celebration of the day on which the miracle occurred, keeping a fast also on the eve thereof."F. Goring, a writer who contr
- 54 "Then Hulagu gave command, and the Caliph was left a-hungering, until his case was that of very great hunger, so that he called asking that somewhat might be given him to eat. And the accursed Hulagu sent for a dish with gold therein, and a dish with
- 53 [Mosul was pillaged by Timur at the end of the 14th century; during the 15th it fell into the hands of the Turkomans, and during the 16th, of Ismail, Shah of Persia.--H. C.][The population of Mosul is to-day 61,000 inhabitants--(48,000 Musulmans, 10,000 C
- 52 According to some chroniclers, the Emperor Heraclius had already let loose the Shut-up Nations to aid him against the Persians, but it brought him no good, for he was beaten in spite of their aid, and died of grief.The theory that the Tartars were Gog and
- 51 303-311.) NOTE 3.--Paipurth, or Baiburt, on the high road between Trebizond and Erzrum, was, according to Neumann, an Armenian fortress in the first century, and, according to Ritter, the castle _Baiberdon_ was fortified by Justinian. It stands on a penin
- 50 CHAPTER II.CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF TURCOMANIA.In Turcomania there are three cla.s.ses of people. First, there are the Turcomans; these are wors.h.i.+ppers of Mahommet, a rude people with an uncouth language of their own.[NOTE 1] They dwell among mounta
- 49 NOTE 1.--On these plates or tablets, which have already been spoken of, a note will be found further on. (Bk. II. ch. vii.) Plano Carpini says of the Mongol practice in reference to royal messengers: "Nuncios, quoscunque et quotcunque, et ubicunque t
- 48 Chinghiz and his first successors used the Uighur, and sometimes the Chinese character. Of the Uighur character we give a specimen in Bk. IV.It is of Syriac origin, undoubtedly introduced into Eastern Turkestan by the early Nestorian missions, probably in
- 47 (_Fra Pipino_ in _Muratori_, IX. 700; _Rainaldi Annal._ III. 252 seqq.; _Wadding_, sub. an. 1217: _Bollandists_, 10th January; _Palatii, Gesta Pontif. Roman._ vol. iii., and _Fasti Cardinalium_, I. 463, etc.) CHAPTER XII.HOW THE TWO BROTHERS PRESENTED THE
- 46 CHAPTER VIII.HOW THE GREAT KAAN GAVE THEM A TABLET OF GOLD, BEARING HIS ORDERS IN THEIR BEHALF.When the Prince had charged them with all his commission, he caused to be given them a Tablet of Gold, on which was inscribed that the three Amba.s.sadors shoul
- 45 NOTE 4.--UCACA or UKEK was a town on the right bank of the Volga, nearly equidistant between Sarai and Bolghar, and about six miles south of the modern Saratov, where a village called _Uwek_ still exists. Ukek is not mentioned before the Mongol domination
- 44 It came to pa.s.s in the year of Christ 1260, when Baldwin was reigning at Constantinople,[NOTE 1] that Messer Nicolas Polo, the father of my lord Mark, and Messer Maffeo Polo, the brother of Messer Nicolas, were at the said city of CONSTANTINOPLE, whithe
- 43 [22] _History of Printing in China and Europe_, in _Philobiblon_, vol. vi.p. 23.[23] See _Appendix L_. in First Edition.[24] Ramusio himself appears to have been entirely unconscious of it, vide supra, p. 3 [25] This subject has been fully treated in _Cat
- 42 Respecting the mariner's compa.s.s and gunpowder I shall say nothing, as no one now, I believe, imagines Marco to have had anything to do with their introduction. But from a highly respectable source in recent years we have seen the introduction of B
- 41 [11] The great Magellanic cloud? In the account of Vincent Yanez Pinzon's Voyage to the S.W. in 1499 as given in Ramusio (III. 15) after Pietro Martire d'Anghieria, it is said:--"Taking the astrolabe in hand, and ascertaining the Antarctic
- 40 The Caliph accordingly sends for Maistre Thumas, the Priest of the Christians, and tells him the stone must be given up: "Il a. c. ans ut plus c'on i mist a solas Mahon, le nostre Dieu: dont che n'est mie estas Que li vous monstiers soit fa
- 39 [Sidenote: How far was there diffusion of his Book in his own day?]75. But we must return for a little to Polo's own times. Ramusio states, as we have seen, that immediately after the first commission of Polo's narrative to writing (in Latin as
- 38 The heads of most of the Mediaeval Travellers were crammed with these fables as genuine history.[18] And by the help of that community of legend on this subject which they found wherever Mahomedan literature had spread, Alexander Magnus was to be traced e
- 37 1. In the chapter on Georgia: "Mare quod dicitur Gheluchelan _vel ABACU_"...."Est ejus stricta via et dubia. Ab una parte est mare _quod dixi de ABACU_ et ab alia nemora invia," etc. (See I. p. 59, note 8.) 2. "Et ibi optimi austu
- 36 (5). G.T. 124 (II. 36). Adonc treuve ... une Provence _qe est encore_ de le confin dou Mangi.Crusca, 162-3 .. L' uomo truova una Provincia _ch' e chiamata ancora_ delle confine de' Mangi.G.L. 396 .. Invenit unam Provinciam _quae vocatur Anc
- 35 I gather from the facts that the MS. C represents an older form of the work than A and B. I should judge that the latter had been derived from that older form, but intentionally modified from it. And as it is the MS.C, with its copy at Bern, that alone pr
- 34 [5] As examples of these Italianisms: "_Et ont del_ olio _de la lanpe dou_ sepolchro _de Crist_"; "_L'Angel ven en vision pour mesajes de Deu a un_ Veschevo _qe mout estoient home de_ sante vite"; "_E certes il estoit bien_ b
- 33 [Sidenote: Language of the original Work.]51. As regards the language in which Marco's Book was first committed to writing, we have seen that Ramusio a.s.sumed, somewhat arbitrarily, that it was _Latin_; Marsden supposed it to have been the _Venetian
- 32 [12] The Legal Year at Venice began on the 1st of March. And 1324 was 7th of the Indiction. Hence the date is, according to the modern Calendar, 1324.[13] Marsden says of Moreta and Fantina, the only daughters named by Ramusio, that these may be thought r
- 31 Respecting the further history of the family there is nothing certain, nor can we give unhesitating faith to Ramusio's statement that the last male descendant of the Polos of S. Giovanni Grisostomo was Marco, who died Castellano of Verona in 1417 (ac
- 30 [Ill.u.s.tration: Miracle of S. Lorenzo]During the stay of Thibault at Venice he seems to have made acquaintance with Marco Polo, and to have received from him a copy of his Book. This is recorded in a curious note which appears on two existing MSS. of Po
- 29 The former will be found in English at pp. 1, 2, of our Translation; but we give a part of the original below[14] for comparison with the preamble to the Romances of Meliadus, Tristan, and Lancelot, as taken from MS. 6961 (Fr. 340) of the Paris Library:--
- 28 [19] "Note here that the Genoese generally, commonly, and by nature, are the most covetous of Men, and the Love of Gain spurs them to every Crime. Yet are they deemed also the most valiant Men in the World.Such an one was Lampa, of that very Doria fa
- 27 [Sidenote: Marco Polo in prison dictates his book to Rusticiano of Pisa.Release of Venetian prisoners.]36. Howsoever they may have been treated, here was Marco Polo one of those many thousand prisoners in Genoa; and here, before long, he appears to have m
- 26 [29] Ibid. 346.VI. THE JEALOUSIES AND NAVAL WARS OF VENICE AND GENOA. LAMBA DORIA'S EXPEDITION TO THE ADRIATIC; BATTLE OF CURZOLA; AND IMPRISONMENT OF MARCO POLO BY THE GENOESE.[Sidenote: Growing jealousies and outbreaks between the Republics.]31. Je
- 25 _Comito_ or Master 1 Quartermasters 8 Carpenters 2 Caulkers 2 In charge of stores and arms 4 Orderlies 2 Cook 1 Arblasteers 50 Rowers 180 ----- 250 [22]This does not include the _Sopracomito_, or Gentleman-Commander, who was expected to be _valens h.o.m.o
- 24 We know nothing more of Polo till we find him appearing a year or two later in rapid succession as the Captain of a Venetian Galley, as a prisoner of war, and as an author.[1] Marco Barbaro's story related at p. 25 speaks of the Ca' Million as _
- 23 [20] The French text which forms the _basis_ of my translation says that, excluding mariners, there were 600 souls, out of whom only 8 survived.The older MS. which I quote as G. T., makes the number 18, a fact that I had overlooked till the sheets were pr
- 22 [Ill.u.s.tration: The Piazzetta at Venice. (From the Bodleian MS. of Polo.)][Sidenote: Second Journey of the Polo Brothers, accompanied by Marco.]19. The Papal interregnum was the longest known, at least since the dark ages. Those two years pa.s.sed, and
- 21 II. SKETCH OF THE STATE OF THE EAST AT THE TIME OF THE JOURNEYS OF THE POLO FAMILY.9. The story of the travels of the Polo family opens in 1260.[Sidenote: State of the Levant.]Christendom had recovered from the alarm into which it had been thrown some 18
- 20 I. OBSCURITIES IN THE HISTORY OF HIS LIFE AND BOOK. RAMUSIO'S STATEMENTS.[Ill.u.s.tration: Doorway of the House of Marco Polo in the Corte Sabbionera, at Venice][Sidenote: Obscurities of Polo's Book, and personal History.]1. With all the intrins
- 19 Portrait of H. H. AGHA KHaN MEHELaTI, late representative of the OLD MAN of the MOUNTAIN. From a photograph by Messrs. SHEPHERD and BOURNE.Ancient SILVER PATERA of debased Greek Art, formerly in the possession of the Princes of BADAKHSHAN, now in the Indi
- 18 Observatory Terrace.Observatory Instruments of the Jesuits. All these from photographs kindly lent to the present Editor by Count de Semalle.Marco Polo's Itineraries. No. IV. EASTERN ASIA. This includes also Sketch Map of the Ruins of SHANGTU, after
- 17 NOTE.--Distribution and Consumption of Coal in China.x.x.xI.--HOW THE GREAT KAAN CAUSES STORES OF CORN TO BE MADE, TO HELP HIS PEOPLE WITHAL IN TIME OF DEARTH NOTE.--The Chinese Public Granaries.x.x.xII.--OF THE CHARITY OF THE EMPEROR TO THE POOR.NOTE.--B
- 16 VII.--HOW THE KAAN REWARDED THE VALOUR OF HIS CAPTAINS NOTES.--1. Parallel from Sanang Setzen. 2. The Golden Honorary Tablets or _Paizah_ of the Mongols. 3. Umbrellas. 4. The Gerfalcon Tablets.VIII.--CONCERNING THE PERSON OF THE GREAT KAAN NOTES.--1. Colo
- 15 XLVII.--OF CHINGHIS, AND HOW HE BECAME THE FIRST KAAN OF THE TARTARS NOTES.--1. Chronology. 2. Relations between Chinghiz and Aung Khan, the Prester John of Polo.XLVIII.--HOW CHINGHIS MUSTERED HIS PEOPLE TO MARCH AGAINST PRESTER JOHN XLIX.--HOW PRESTER JO
- 14 XXIV.--HOW THE OLD MAN USED TO TRAIN HIS a.s.sa.s.sINS NOTES.--1. The story widely spread. Notable murders by the Sectaries.2. Their different branches.XXV.--HOW THE OLD MAN CAME BY HIS END NOTE.--History of the apparent Destruction of the Sect by Hulaku;
- 13 _Account of Regions Visited or heard of on the Journey from the Lesser Armenia to the Court of the Great Kaan at Chandu._ I.--HERE THE BOOK BEGINS; AND FIRST IT SPEAKS OF THE LESSER HERMENIA NOTES.--1. Little Armenia. 2. Meaning of _Chasteaux_. 3. Sicklin
- 12 Examples. 74. Injustice long done to Polo. Singular Modern Example.XII. CONTEMPORARY RECOGNITION OF POLO AND HIS BOOK.-- 75. How far was there diffusion of his Book in his own day?76. Contemporary References to Polo. T. de Cepoy; Pipino; Jacopo d'Acq
- 11 See end of _Memoir_ in present work.---- Le Colonel Sir Henry Yule. Par M. Henri Cordier. Extrait du _Journal Asiatique_. Paris, Imprimerie nationale, MDCCCXC, in-8, pp. 26.---- The same, _Bulletin de la Societe de Geographie_. Par M. Henri Cordier. 1890,
- 10 ---- Hidden Virtues [A Satire on W. E. Gladstone]. (Letter to the _St.James' Gazette_, 21st March, 1886. Signed M. P. V.) ---- Burma, Past and Present. (_Quart. Rev._ vol. 162, Jan. and April, 1886, pp. 210-238.) ---- Errors of Facts, in two well-kno
- 9 1882 Memoir of Gen. Sir William Erskine Baker, K.C.B., Royal Engineers (Bengal). Compiled by two old friends, brother officers and pupils.London. Printed for private circulation, 1882, 8vo., pp. 67.By H. Y[ule] and R. M. [Gen. R. Maclagan].---- Etymologic
- 8 ---- Mr. Henry M. Stanley and the Royal Geographical Society; being the Record of a Protest. By Col. H. Yule and H. M. Hyndman B.A., F.R.G.S.London: Bickers and Son, 1878, 8vo, pp. 48 ---- Review of _Burma, Past and Present; with Personal Reminiscences of
- 7 ---- Papers connected with the Upper Oxus Regions. (_Journal_, xlii. 1872, pp. 438-481.) ---- Letter [on Yule's edition of Wood's _Oxus_]. (_Ocean Highways_, Feb.1874, p. 475.) Palermo, 9th Jan. 1874.1873 Letter [about the route of M. Polo throu
- 6 1850 The African Squadron vindicated. By Lieut. H. Yule. Second Edition.London, J. Ridgway, 1850, 8vo, pp. 41.Had several editions. Reprinted in the Colonial Magazine of March, 1850.---- L'Escadre Africaine vengee. Par le lieutenant H. Yule. Traduit
- 5 [43] Baker went home in November, 1857, but did not retire until the following year.[44] Nothing was more worthy of respect in Yule's fine character than the energy and success with which he mastered his natural temperament in the last ten years of h
- 4 From Hyderabad he was promoted in 1867 to the Governor-General's Council, but his health broke down under the sedentary life, and he retired and came home in 1869.After some years of country life in Scotland, where he bought a small property, he sett
- 3 But though the beautiful city and surrounding country were full of charm and interest, Yule was too much pre-occupied by his own special engrossing pursuits ever really to get the good of his surroundings, of which indeed he often seemed only half conscio
- 2 His successor was Lord Canning, whose confidence in Yule and personal regard for him became as marked as his predecessor's.In the autumn of 1856, Yule took leave and came home. Much of his time while in England was occupied with making arrangements f
- 1 The Travels of Marco Polo.by Marco Polo and Rustich.e.l.lo of Pisa.VOLUME I PREFACE.The amount of appropriate material, and of acquaintance with the mediaeval geography of some parts of Asia, which was acquired during the compilation of a work of kindred