mention on the way till you come, at the end of those five days, to TADINFU.'

This, you must know, is a very great city, and in old times was the seat of a great kingdom; but the Great Kaan conquered it by force of arms. Nevertheless it is still the noblest city in all those provinces. There are very great merchants here, who trade on a great scale, and the abundance of silk is something marvellous. They have, moreover, most charming gardens abounding with fruit of large size. The city of Tadinfu hath also under its rule eleven imperial cities of great importance, all of which enjoy a large and profitable trade, owing to that immense produce of silk.2

Now, you must know, that in the year of Christ, 1273, the Great Kaan had sent a certain Baron called LIYTAN SANGON,3 with some 80,000 horse, to this province and city to garrison them. And after the said captain had tarried there a while, he formed a disloyal and traitorous plot, and stirred up the great men of the province to rebel against the Great Kaan. And so they did; for they broke into revolt against their sovereign lord, and refused all obedience to him, and made this Liytan, whom their sovereign had sent thither for their protection, to be the chief of their revolt.

When the Great Kaan heard thereof he straightway despatched two of his Barons, one of whom was called AGUIL and the other MONGOTAY; giving them 100,000 horse and a great force of infantry. But the affair was a serious one, for the Barons were met by the rebel Liytan with all those whom he had collected from the province, mustering more than 100,000 horse and a large force of foot. Nevertheless in the battle Liytan and his party were utterly routed, and the two Barons whom the Emperor had sent won the victory. When the news came to the Great Kaan he was right well pleased, and ordered that all the chiefs who had rebelled, or excited others to rebel, should

be put to a cruel death, but that those of lower rank should receive a pardon. And so it was done. The two Barons had all the leaders of the enterprise put to a cruel death, and all those of lower rank were pardoned. And thenceforward they conducted themselves with loyalty towards

their lord."

Now having told you all about this affair, let us have done with it, and I will tell you of another place that you come to in going south, which is called SINJU-MATU.

NOTE 1.-There seems to be no solution to the difficulties attaching to the account of these two cities (Chinangli and Tadinfu) except that the two have been confounded, either by a lapse of memory on the traveller's part or by a misunderstanding on that of Rusticiano.

The position and name of CHINANGLI point, as Pauthier has shown, to T'SINANFU, the chief city of Shantung. The second city is called in the G. Text and Pauthier's MSS. Candinfu, Condinfu, and Cundinfu, names which it has not been found possible to elucidate. But adopting the reading Tadinfu of some of the old printed editions (supported by the Tudinfu of Ramusio and the Tandifu of the Riccardian MS.), Pauthier shows that the city now called Yenchau bore under the Kin the name of TAITINGFU, which may fairly thus be recognized.

It was not however Yenchau, but T'sinanfu, which was "the noblest city in all those provinces," and had been "in old times the seat of a kingdom," as well as recently the scene of the episode of Litan's rebellion. T'sinanfu lies in a direct line 86 miles south of T'sangchau (Changlu), near the banks of the Tat'sing-ho, a large river which communicates with the great canal near T'siningchau, and which was, no doubt, of greater importance in Polo's time than in the last six centuries. For up nearly to the origin of the Mongol power it appears to have been one of the main discharges of the Hwang-Ho. The recent changes in that river have again brought its main stream into the same channel, and the "New Yellow River" passes three or four miles to the north of the city. T'sinanfu has frequently of late been visited by European travellers, who report it as still a place of importance, with much life and bustle, numerous book shops, several fine temples, two mosques, and all the furniture of a provincial capital. It has also a Roman Catholic Cathedral of Gothic architecture. (Williamson, I. 102.)

NOTE 2. The Chinese annals, more than 2000 years B.C., speak of silk as an article of tribute from Shantung; and evidently it was one of the provinces most noted in the Middle Ages for that article. Compare

the quotation in note on next chapter from Friar Odoric. Yet the older modern accounts speak only of the wild silk of Shantung. Mr. Williamson, however, points out that there is an extensive produce from the genuine mulberry silkworm, and anticipates a very important trade in Shantung silk. Silk fabrics are also largely produced, and some of extraordinary quality. (Williamson, I. 112, 131.)

The expressions of Padre Martini, in speaking of the wild silk of Shantung, strongly remind one of the talk of the ancients about the origin of silk, and suggest the possibility that this may not have been mere groundless fancy: "Non in globum aut ovum ductum, sed in longissimum filum paulatim ex ore emissum, albi coloris, quæ arbustis dumisque adhærentia, atque a vento huc illucque agitata colliguntur," &c. Compare this with Pliny's "Seres lanitia silvarum nobiles, perfusam aqua depectentes frondium caniciem," or Claudian's "stamine, quod molli tondent de stipite Seres, Frondea lanigeræ carpentes vellera silvæ; Et longum tenues tractus producit in aurum."

NOTE 3. The title Sangon is, as Pauthier points out, the Chinese Tsangkiun, a "general of division." John Bell calls an officer bearing the same title "Merin Sanguin." I suspect Tsangkiun is the Jang-Jang of Baber.

NOTE 4.-AGUL was the name of a distant cousin of Kublai, who was the father of Nayan (supra, ch. ii. and Genealogy of the House of Chinghiz in Appendix A.) MANGKUTAI, under Kublai, held the command of the third Hazara (Thousand) of the right wing, in which he had succeeded his father Jedi Noyan. He was greatly distinguished in the invasion of South China under Bayan. (Erdmann's Temudschin, p. 220, 455; Gaubil, p. 160.)

NOTE 5.-LITAN, a Chinese of high military position and reputation under the Mongols, in the early part of Kublai's reign, commanded the troops in Shantung and the conquered parts of Kiangnan. In the beginning of 1262 he carried out a design that he had entertained since Kublai's accession, declared for the Sung Emperor, to whom he gave up several important places, put detached Mongol garrisons to the sword, and fortified T'sinan and T'singchau. Kublai despatched Prince Apiché and the General Ssetienché against him. Litan, after some partial success, was beaten and driven into T'sinan, which the Mongols immediately invested. After a blockade of four months, the garrison was reduced to extremities. Litan, in despair, put his women to death and threw himself into a lake adjoining the city; but he was taken out alive and executed. T'singchau then surrendered. (Gaubil, 139-140; Demailla, IX. 298 seqq.; D' Ohsson, II. 381.)

Pauthier gives greater detail from the Chinese Annals, which confirm the amnesty granted to all but the chiefs of the rebellion.

The date in the text is wrong or corrupt, as is generally the case.

CHAPTER LXII.

CONCERNING THE NOBLE CITY OF SINJUMATU.

ON leaving Tadinfu you travel three days towards the south, always finding numbers of noble and populous towns and villages flourishing with trade and manufactures. There is also abundance of game in the country, and everything in profusion.

When you have travelled those three days you come to the noble city of SINJUMATU, a rich and fine place, with great trade and manufactures. The people are Idolaters and subjects of the Great Kaan, and have paper-money, and they have a river which I can assure you brings them great gain, and I will tell you about it.

You see the river in question flows from the south to this city of Sinjumatu. And the people of the city have divided this larger river in two, making one half of it flow east and the other half flow west; that is to say, the one branch flows towards Manzi and the other towards Cathay. And it is a fact that the number of vessels at this city is what no one would believe without seeing them. The quantity of merchandize also which these vessels transport to Manzi and Cathay is something marvellous; and then they return loaded with other merchandize, so that the amount of goods borne to and fro on those two rivers is quite astonishing.'

NOTE 1.-Friar Odoric, proceeding by water northward to Cambaluc about 1324-5, says: "As I travelled by that river towards the east, and passed many towns and cities, I came to a certain city which is called SUNZUMATU, which hath a greater plenty of silk than perhaps any place on earth, for when silk is at the dearest you can still have 40 lbs. for less than eight groats. There is in the place likewise great store of merchandise," &c. When commenting on Odoric, I was inclined to identify this city with Lint'singchau, but its position with respect to the two last cities in Polo's itinerary renders this inadmissible; and

Murray and Pauthier seem to be right in identifying it with T'SININGCHAU. The affix Matu (Ma-teu, a jetty, a place of river trade) might easily attach itself to the name of such a great depôt of commerce on the canal as Marco here describes, though no Chinese authority has been produced for its being so styled. The only objection to the identification with T'siningchau is the difficulty of making three days' journey of the short distance between Yenchau and that city.

Polo, according to the route supposed, comes first upon the artificial part of the Great Canal here. The rivers Wen and Sse (from near Yenchau) flowing from the side of Shantung, and striking the canal line at right angles near T'siningchau, have been thence diverted north-west and south-east, so as to form the canal; the point of their original confluence at Nanwang forming, apparently, the summit level of the canal. There is a little confusion in Polo's account, owing to his describing the river as coming from the south, which, according to his orientation, would be the side towards Honan. In this respect his words would apply more accurately to the Wei river at Lint'sing (see Biot in J. As. ser. 3, tom. xiv. 194, and J. N. C. B. R. A. S., 1866, p. 11; also the map with ch. lxiv.). Duhalde calls T'siningchau one of the most considerable cities of the empire;" and Nieuhoff speaks of its large trade and population.

CHAPTER LXIII.

CONCERNING THE CITIES OF LINJU AND PIJU.

ON leaving the city of Sinju-matu you travel for eight days toward the south, always coming to great and rich towns and villages flourishing with trade and manufactures. The people are all subjects of the Great Kaan, use papermoney, and burn their dead. At the end of those eight days you come to the city of LINJU, in the province of the same name of which it is the capital. It is a rich and noble city, and the men are good soldiers, natheless they carry on great trade and manufactures. There is great abundance of game in both beasts and birds, and all the necessaries of life are in profusion. The place stands on the river of which I told you above. great numbers of vessels, even greater

And they have here than those of which