THE BOOK OF MARCO POLO.

PROLOGUE.

II., p. 6.

SARAI.

"CORDIER (Yule) identifiziert den von Pegolotti gewählten Namen Säracanco mit dem jüngeren Sarai oder Zarew (dem Sarai grande Fra Mauros), was mir vollkommen untunlich erscheint; es wäre dann die Route des Reisenden geradezu ein Zickzackweg gewesen, der durch nichts zu rechtfertigen wäre." (Dr. Ed. FRIEDMANN, Pegolotti, p. 14.)

Prof. Pelliot writes to me: "Il n'y a aucune possibilité de retrouver dans Saracanco, Sarai + Ķúnk. Le mot Kúnk n'est pas autrement attesté, et la construction mongole ou turque exigerait kunk-sarai.”

seq.

XIII., pp. 25-26.

SHANG TU.

See also A. POZDNEIEV, Mongoliya i Mongoly, II., pp. 303

XV., pp. 27, 28-30. Now it came that Marco, the son of Messer Nicolo, sped wondrously in learning the customs of the Tartars, as well as their language, their manner of writing, and their practice of war-in fact he came in a brief space to know several languages, and four sundry written characters.

On the linguistic office called Sse yi kwan, cf. an interesting note by H. MASPERO, p. 8, of Bul. Ecole franç. Ext. Orient, XII., No. 1, 1912.

XV., p. 28 n. no key.

Of the Khitán but one inscription was known and

Prof. Pelliot remarks, Bul. Ecole franç. Ext. Orient, IV., JulySept., 1904: "In fact a Chinese work has preserved but five k'i-tan characters, however with the Chinese translation." He writes to me that we do not know any k'itan inscription, but half a dozen characters reproduced in a work of the second half of the fourteenth century. The Uíghúr alphabet is of Aramean origin through Sogdian; from this point of view, it is not necessary to call for Estranghelo, nor Nestorian propaganda. On the other hand we have to-day documents in Uíghúr writing older than the Kudatku Bilik.

BOOK FIRST.

ACCOUNT OF REGIONS VISITED OR HEARD OF ON THE JOURNEY FROM THE LESSER ARMENIA TO THE COURT OF THE GREAT KAAN AT CHANDU.

BOOK I.

VI., p. 63. "There is also on the river, as you go from Baudas to Kisi, a great city called Bastra, surrounded by woods, in which grow the best dates in the world."

"The products of the country are camels, sheep and dates." (At Pi-ssi-lo, Basra. CHAU JU-KWA, p. 137.)

VI., pp. 63, 65. "In Baudas they weave many different kinds of silk stuffs and gold brocades, such as nasich, and nac, and cramoisy, and many other beautiful tissue richly wrought with figures of beasts and birds."

In the French text we have nassit and nac.

"S'il faut en croire M. Defrémery, au lieu de nassit, il faut évidemment lire nassij (nécidj), ce qui signifie un tissu, en général, et désigne particulièrement une étoffe de soie de la même espèce que le nekh. Quant aux étoffes sur lesquelles étaient figurés des animaux et des oiseaux, le même orientaliste croit qu'il faut y reconnaître le thardwehch, sorte d'étoffe de soie qui, comme son nom l'indique, représentait des scènes de chasse. On sait que l'usage de ces représentations est très ancien en Orient, comme on le voit dans des passages de Philostrate et de QuinteCurce rapportés par Mongez." (FRANCISQUE-MICHEL, Recherches sur le Commerce, I., p. 262.)

VI., p. 67.

DEATH OF MOSTAS'IM.

According to Al-Fakhri, translated by E. Amar (Archives marocaines, XVI., p. 579), Mostas'im was put to death with his two eldest sons on the 4th of safar, 656 (3rd February, 1258).

XI., p. 75. "The [the men of Tauris] weave many kinds of beautiful and valuable stuffs of silk and gold."

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