The province of Tholoman, which is likewise subject to the great khan, is at the distance of eight days journey east from Amu; the inhabitants are idolaters, and use a peculiar language; both men and women are tall, well shaped, and of a brown complexion. This country is well inhabited, having many strong towns and castles, and the men are practised in arms, and accustomed to war. They burn their dead, after which they inclose the bones and ashes in chests, which they hide in holes of the mountains. Gold is found in great plenty, yet both here and in Cangigu and Amu, they use the cowrie shells which are brought from India.
From this province of Tholoman, the high road leads eastwards by a river, on the banks of which there are many towns and castles, and at the end of twelve days journey, we come to the great city of Cintigui, the province of the same name being subject to the great khan, and the inhabitants are idolaters. They manufacture excellent cloths from the bark of trees, of which their summer clothing is made. There are many lions in this country, so that no person dare sleep out of doors in the night, and the vessels which frequent the river, dare not be made fast to the banks at night from dread of the lions. The inhabitants have large dogs, so brave and strong, that they are not afraid even to attack the lion, and it often happens that one man armed with a bow and arrows, and assisted by two of these dogs, will kill a lion. The dogs, urged on by the man, give the onset, and the lion endeavours to take shelter beside a tree, that the dogs may not be able to get behind him, yet he scorns to run away, and holds on his stately slow space, the dogs always fastening on his hinder parts; but so cautiously and nimbly do they manage their assaults, that whenever the lion turns upon them, they are beyond his reach. Then the magnanimous beast holds on his way towards a tree, the man all the while plying him with arrows, at every opportunity, and the dogs constantly tearing him from behind, till at length, with loss of blood, he falls down and dies. This country abounds in silk, which is carried by the merchants to various provinces, by means of the river. Their money is paper, and the inhabitants are valiant in arms.
At the end of ten days journey from Cintigui, we come to the city of Sindinfu; twenty days from thence is Gingui, and four days from thence, towards the south, is Palan-fu in Kathay, returning by the other side of the province. The people are idolaters and burn their dead, but there are also some Christians who have a church. The people use paper money, and are all under the dominion of the great khan. They make cloths of gold and silk, and very fine lawns. Past this city of Palan-fu, which has many cities under its jurisdiction, there runs a fine river, which carries great store of merchandize to Cambalu, by means of many canals made on purpose. Leaving this place, and travelling three days journey towards the south of the province of Kathay, subject to the great khan, is the great city of Ciangu. They are idolaters, who burn their dead, and their money is the mulberry paper coin of the khan. The earth, in the territories of this city, abounds in salt, which is extracted in the following manner: The earth is heaped up like a hill, and large quantities of water are poured on, which extracts the salt, and runs by certain conduits into cauldrons, in which it is boiled up into fine white salt; and this manufacture produces great profit to the people and the great khan, as large quantities are exported for sale to other countries. In this neighbourhood there are large and fine flavoured peaches, one of which weighs two pounds.
Five days journey farther south from Ciangu is the city of Ciangli, likewise in Kathay, between which we pass many cities and castles, all subject to the great khan; and through the middle of this last city of Ciangli, there runs a large river, which is very convenient for the transport of merchandize. Six days journey from thence to the south is the noble kingdom and great city of Tudinfu, which was formerly subject to its own king, but was subdued by the arms of the great khan in 1272. Under its jurisdiction there are twelve famous trading cities. It is most pleasantly situated among gardens and orchards, and is rich in silks. A baron, named Lucanser, who was sent to govern this acquisition by the khan, with an army of 8000 horse, chose to rebel; but was defeated and slain by an army of 100,000 horse sent against him by the khan under two other barons, and the country again reduced to obedience. Seven days journey farther south is the famous city of Singuimatu, to which, on the south, a great river runs, which is divided by the inhabitants into two rivers, one branch of which flows by the east towards Kathay, and the other by the west towards Mangi[13]. By these rivers or canals innumerable vessels, incredible for their size and wealth, carry vast quantities of merchandize through both of these provinces; and for sixteen days journey to the south from Singuimatu, we meet with many cities and towns, which carry on immense trade. The inhabitants of all these countries are idolaters, and subject to the great khan. You then come to a great river called Caramoran[14], which is said to take its rise in the dominions formerly belonging to Umcan, or Prester John, in the north. It is very deep, and carries ships of great burden, and is well stocked with fish. Within one days journey of the sea are the two cities of Coigan-zu and Quan-zu, on opposite sides of the river, the one a great city and the other a small one, where a fleet of 15,000 vessels is kept by the great khan, each fitted for carrying fifteen horses and twenty men. These are always in readiness to carry an army to any of the islands, or to any remote region in case of rebellion[15]. On passing the great river Caramoran, or Hoang-ho, we enter into the noble kingdom of Mangi: But it must not be supposed that I have described the whole province of Kathay, as I have not spoken of the twentieth part of it; for in passing through this province, I have only mentioned the principal cities on my way, leaving those on both sides, and many intermediate ones to avoid prolixity, and not to set down in writing what I only learned from hearsay.
[13] Kathay and Mangi, as formerly mentioned, are Northern and Southern China, so that the direction of these rivers ought perhaps to have been described as north and south, instead of east and west. About seventy miles from the mouth of the Yellow river, or Hoang-ho, there is a town called Tsingo, near which a canal runs to the north, communicating with the river on which Pekin is situated, and another canal, running far south into Mangi or Southern China. Tsingo, though now an inferior town, may have been formerly Singui-matu, and a place of great importance.--E.
[14] Caramoran or Hora-moran, is the Hoang-ho, or Yellow river; and it must be allowed, that the distance which is placed in the text, between Singui-matu and this river, is quite hostile to the idea mentioned in the preceding note, of Tsingo and Singui-matu being the same place. The only other situation in all China which accords with the two canals, or rivers, communicating both with Kathay and Mangi, is Yotcheou on the Tong-ting-hou lake, which is on the Kian-ku river, and at a sufficient distance from the Hoang-ho to agree with the text. In the absence of all tolerable certainty, conjecture seems allowable. --E.
[15] There are no Chinese cities, in our maps, that, in the least appearance of sound, correspond with the names of these towns or cities near the mouth of the Hoang-ho. Hoain-gin is the only large city near its mouth, and that is not on its banks. All therefore that can be said, is, that the two cities in the text must have stood on opposite sides of the Hoang-ho in the days of Marco Polo.--E.
SECTION XV.
An account of the Kingdom of Mangi, and the manner of its Reduction under the dominion of the Great Khan; together with some Notices of its various Provinces and Cities.
The kingdom of Mangi is the richest and most famous of all that are to be found in the east. In the year 1269, this kingdom was governed by a king named Fanfur[1], who was richer and more powerful than any who had reigned there for an hundred years. Fanfur maintained justice and internal peace in his dominions, so that no one dared to offend his neighbour, or to disturb the peace, from dread of prompt, severe, and impartial justice; insomuch, that the artificers would often leave their shops, filled with valuable commodities, open in the night, yet no one would presume to enter them. Travellers and strangers travelled in safety through his whole dominions by day or night. He was merciful to the poor, and carefully provided for such as were oppressed by poverty or sickness, and every year took charge of 20,000 infants who were deserted by their mothers from poverty, all of whom he bred up till they were able to work at some trade. But in process of time, betaking himself more to pleasures than was fit, he employed his whole time in delights, in the midst of 1000 concubines. His capital was encompassed with ditches full of water; but Fanfur