hope that some reader skilled in mediæval French and Italian may be able to throw light on the subject. Mr. Yule writes as follows: "The reference [to these fowls] in 'Marco Polo' (p. 226 of the last edition; not p. 126 as stated in the index) is a puzzle, owing to the statement that they are black all over. A black has, I am told, been recently created, but the common breed is white, as stated in the note and by Friar Odoric. "It has occurred to me as a possibility that what Marco Polo may have meant to say was that they were black all through, or some such phrase. The flesh of these fowls is deeply pigmented, and looks practically black; it is a feature that is very remarkable, and would certainly strike any one who saw it. The details that they 'lay eggs just like our fowls,' i.e., not pigmented, and are 'very good to eat,' are facts that would naturally deserve especial mention in this connexion. Mr. A. D. Darbishire (of Oxford and Edinburgh University) tells me that is quite correct: the flesh look horrid, but it is quite good eating. Do any texts suggest the possibility of such a reading as I suggest?" The references in the above quotation are, of course, to my father's version of Marco Polo. That his nephew should make this interesting little contribution to the subject would have afforded him much gratification. The Athenæum, No. 4570, May 29, 1915, p. 485. LXXX., pp. 226, 230. SUGAR. A. F. YULE. "I may observe that the Pêh Shi (or 'Northern Dynasties History') speaks of a large consumption of sugar in Cambodgia as far back as the fifth century of our era. There can be no mistake about the meaning of the words sha-tang, which are still used both in China and Japan (sa-tō). The 'History of the T'ang Dynasty,' in its chapter on Magadha, says that in the year 627 the Chinese Emperor 'sent envoys thither to procure the method of boiling out sugar, and then ordered the Yang-chou sugar-cane growers to press it out in the same way, when it appeared that both in colour and taste ours excelled that of the Western Regions' [of which Magadha was held to be part]." (E. H. PARKER, Asiatic Quart. Rev., Jan., 1904, p. 146.) ZAITUN. LXXXII., p. 237. M. G. Ferrand remarks that Tze tung = uj, zitūn in Arabic, inexactly read Zaytun, on account of its similitude with its homonym, zyatūn, olive. (Relat de Voy., I., p. 11.) LXXXII., pp. 242-245. Perhaps it may not be generally known that in the dialect of Foochow Ts'uän-chou and Chang-chou are at the present day pronounced in exactly the same way-i.e., 'Chiong-chiu,' and it is by no means impossible that Marco Polo's Tyunju is an attempt to reproduce this sound, especially as, coming to Zaitun vid Foochow, he would probably first hear the Foochow pronunciation." (E. H. PARKER, Asiatic Quart. Rev., Jan., 1904, p. 148.) BOOK THIRD. JAPAN, THE ARCHIPELAGO, SOUTHERN INDIA, AND THE COASTS AND ISLANDS OF THE INDIAN SEA. II., p. 256, n. I. NAFUN. Regarding the similitude between Nipon and Nafun, Ferrand, Textes, I., p. 115 n., remarks: "Ce rapprochement n'a aucune chance d'être exact Nafün est certainement une erreur de graphie pour Yākūt ouöli Nāķūs.” III., p. 261. 66 JAPANESE WAR. Hung Ts'a-k'iu, who set out overland via Corea and Tsushima in 1281, is much more likely than Fan Wên-hu to be Von-sain-chin (probably a misprint for chiu), for the same reason Vo-cim stands for Yung-ch'ang, and sa for sha, ch'a, ts'a, etc. A-la-han (not A-ts'r-han) fell sick at the start, and was replaced by A-ta-hai. To copy Abacan for Alahan would be a most natural error, and I see from the notes that M. Schlegel has come to the same conclusion independently." (E. H. PARKER, Asiatic Quart. Rev., Jan., 1904, p. 147.) V., pp. 270, 271 n. CHAMBA. Lieut.-General Sagatu, So Tu or So To, sent in 1278 an envoy to the King known as Indravarman VI. or Jaya Sinhavarman. Maspero (Champa, pp. 237, 254) gives the date of 1282 for the war against Champa with Sagatu appointed at the head of the Chinese Army on the 16th July, 1282; the war H |