§ 5. Kumania is of vast extent; but, owing to the inclemency of its climate, is very thinly inhabited. In some parts, the cold is so intense in winter, that neither man nor beast can remain in them; and in other parts the heat is so extreme, and they are so infested with swarms of flies, as to be quite intolerable. The whole country is flat and level, and without woods, except some orchards near the towns. The inhabitants live in tents, and use the dung of their cattle as fuel. It is bounded on the east by a desert towards Khorasmia; to the west is the great sea, or Euxine, and the sea of Tenue, Tanna, or Azof; to the north, is the empire of Kaffia or Kiow; and to the south it extends to the great river Etile or Wolga, which passes the capital. This river is frozen over every year, and men and beasts walk upon the ice as on dry land; along the banks of the river are many small trees; and on the other side of the river, the country is inhabited by a people, who, though not Kumanians, are subject to the Khan. Some live towards the high mountains of Cocas or Caucasus, in which there are white kites. This range of mountains extends between the Black Sea or Euxine on the west, and the Caspian on the east; this latter has no connection with the ocean, but is a vast lake called a sea, on account of its extent, being the largest lake in the world, and contains a great quantity of excellent fish. It divides Asia into two parts; that to the east being called Lower Asia, and that to the west Greater Asia. In the Caspian mountains, abundance of buffalos and many other wild beasts are found. In this sea there are many islands, to which numerous birds resort to breed; particularly the falcons called Pegrim[1], Esmetliones[2], and Bousacei[3], and many other birds not to be found elsewhere. The largest town of Kumania is Sara or Saray, which was large and of great renown, but has been ravaged, and almost entirely destroyed by the Tartars, who took it by storm.
[1] Faucon Pelerin, the Pilgrim Falcon,--Forst.
[2] Esmerliones, or Merlins.--Forst.
[3] The Bondree and Sacre, or the Honey-buzzard and Sacre.--Forst.
It is obvious, that Haitho here describes that part of the empire of the Mongals which was subject to Baatu-khan. The Euxine or Black Sea, he calls the Great Sea. The sea of Tenue is that of Tanna or Azof, the town at the mouth of the Tanais or Don having been known by both of these names, the former evidently derived from the ancient name of the river, or the river from the town, and of which the modern name Don is a mere corruption. The empire of Kaffia is obviously that of Kiow, Kiovia, or Kiavia, long the capital of the Russian empire, and the residence of the czars or great dukes.--Forst.
§ 6. Beyond the great mountain of Belgian or Bilkhan, the Tartars lived formerly without religion, or the knowledge of letters, being chiefly employed in tending their flocks; and were so far from warlike, that they readily submitted to pay tribute to any neighbouring prince who made the demand. All the tribes of the Tartars were known by the name of Mogles, Moguls or Mongals; and in process of time they increased so much, as to form seven populous independent nations. The first was called Tartar, after a province of that name, which was their original habitation; the second Tangot, Tangut, or Tongusians; the third Kunat; the fourth Jalair or Thalair; the fifth Sonich; the sixth Monghi; and the seventh Tabeth. Prompted by a vision and a command from God, the chiefs of these nations chose Changi or Zinghis to be their sovereign ruler or Great Khan; and we are told that when he came down from the mountains of Belgian, the sea withdrew nine feet, and made a way for him where there was none before.
This seems to be the same history with that of Irganekon, which is also related by Abulgasi. The mountain Belgian must be looked for in the environs of lake Balehas, in the country of Organum or Irganekon. According to the Nighiaristan, a collection of oriental history, the Turkomanni likewise came from a place called Belgian or Bilkhan.--Forst.
CHAPTER XI.
Travels of Marco Polo, through Tartary, China, the Islands of India, and most of Asia, from AD 1260 to 1295 .[1]
[1] Harris, I, 593. Forst. Voy. and Disc. p. 117. Modern Geogr. II. xvi.
Nicolo Polo, the father of this intelligent early traveller, and Maffei Polo his uncle, were Venetian gentlemen engaged in commerce; and appear to have gone into the east, in the prosecution of their trade, in the year 1260. They resided far some time at the court of Kublai-khan, the great emperor of the Mongals or Tartars; and, returning to Venice in 1269, they found that the wife of Nicolo had died during their absence, leaving a son Marco, the author of the following travels, of whom she was pregnant at the time of their departure. These circumstances are detailed in the first section of this chapter, but the date which has been usually assigned for the commencement of this first journey, 1250, is evidently corrupted, as will appear from the following considerations, derived from a comparison of the chronology of the kings and princes, who are mentioned in the travels as reigning at the time. The high probability is, that the obvious mistake, of assuming the year 1250 as the era of the first journey, arose from a careless substitution of the figure 5 for 6 in transcription.
Assuming the corrected date of 1260 as the commencement of the first journey of Nicolo and Maffei Polo, this will appear to be consonant with the chronology of the princes with whose reigns their travels were connected; while the date of 1250, adopted by Ramusio and Muller, is totally irreconcilable with the truth of history. They remained one year at the leskar or camp of Bereke-khan, whence they travelled into Bochara, where they tarried three years. From thence they spent one year on their journey to the court of Kublai-khan, and were three years on their journey back to Venice. But as they remained some time at the residence of Kublai-khan, one year may be allowed for that circumstance; and this first journey may therefore be allowed to have occupied nine years in all.
Kublai-khan reigned supreme emperor of the Mongals from 1259 to 1294, in which last year he died at eighty years of age. If, therefore, Nicolo and Maffei had set out upon their first journey in 1250, they must have arrived at the imperial residence of Cambalu, or Pekin, in 1255, at the latest, or four years before Kublai-khan ascended the throne. Their first journey commenced while Baldwin II. was emperor of Constantinople, who reigned from 1234 to 1261. The khan of Kiptschak, or the western division of the vast empire of the Mongals, at the time of this journey, was Bereke, who ruled from 1256 to 1266. Holagu-khan, who was then at war with Bereke, did not begin to reign till 1258. Hence it follows, that they could not have commenced their first journey at the very earliest before 1258, or 1259 rather; as it is not to be supposed that Holagu would enter upon a dangerous war in the first year of his reign. Upon the whole, therefore, the date of 1260, for the commencement of the first journey, as already observed, is perfectly consistent with the chronology of history.
The year of their return to Venice, 1269, is agreed upon on all hands; and as Marco was born in the first year of their absence, he would then be about nine years of age. Ramusio, who dates the commencement of the first journey in 1250, supposes Marco to have been fifteen years of age at the return of his father and uncle, which is absurd; as, if the era assumed by Ramusio were possibly true, he must then have been in his nineteenth year.
According to the opinion of Mr. J. R. Forster, the commencement of the second journey in which Marco was engaged, must have been in 1271; and he founds this opinion on the circumstance, that Gregory IX. had then been elected pope, from whom they carried letters for Kublai-khan. But it will appear from the travels themselves, that the three Polos had commenced their journey previously to the election of that sovereign pontiff, and that they were detained some time in Armenia, in consequence of an express sent after them for the purpose, that they might there wait for his final instructions. They may, therefore, have commenced this second journey in 1270. We only know, however, that they set out from Venice for a second journey into Tartary, soon after their return from the first, in 1269; and that they carried young Marco along with them. On his appearance at the court of Cambalu, Kublai-khan took a fancy to the young Venetian,