xviii INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 



But then Hue goes on to talk foolishness about ' the 

 carbonic acid gas Avhich we know is heavier than atmosphe- 

 ric air ' — and so forth, and to tell how this carbonic acid 

 gas caused a difficulty about lighting a fire. Marco Polo 

 mentions the latter fact, but, belonging to the pre-scientific 

 age, he attributes it to the great cold.^ 



In a Chinese Itinerary through Tangut and Tibet, 

 already cited, I find a perfect explanation of Hue's strange 

 talk. At a great many stations on both sides of the 

 Murui-ussu (or Upper Yangtse), it is noted that there are 

 ' noxious vapours ' at the camping-ground ; so no doubt 

 Hue merely accepted and embellished the phrase of his 

 travelling companions. 



A more amusing illustration of this notion is given in 

 Dr. Bellew's recent book, ' Kashmir and Kashgar,' where 

 an Afghan follower, to whom he had given chlorate of 

 potash, says : ' Yes ! I'll take this, and please God it will 



Slake their parch'd throats with sugar'd mulberries — 

 In single file they move.' . . . 



Sohrab and Rustutn. 



The authority for the ' sugar'd mulberries ' is, as Mr. Arnold him- 

 self has kindly informed me, Alex. Burnes. It is a pity that this vivid 

 and accurate picture is a little marred to an Anglo-Indian ear by the 

 misplaced accent of Kabul (as it ought to be). It was told characteris- 

 tically of the late Lord Ellenborough that, after his arrival in India, 

 though for months he heard the name correctly spoken by his coun- 

 cillors and his staff, he persisted in calling it Cabool till he met 

 Dost Mahommed Khan. After the interview the Governor-General 

 announced as a new discovery, from the Amir's pronunciation, that 

 Cabul was the correct form. 



^ Another medieval antidote to the effects of attenuated atmo- 

 sphere at great heights seems to have been the application of a лvet 

 sponge to the mouth. It is mentioned by Sir John Maundevile in 

 speaking of Mount Athos ; and by a contemporary of his, John de' 

 MarignoUi, in reference to a lofty mountain in 'Saba,' probably Java.' 

 His accuracy of expression is remarkable : ' From the middle of the 

 mountain upwards the air is said to be so thin and pure that none, or 

 at least very few, have been able to ascend it, and that only by keep- 

 ing a sponge filled with water over the mouth.' Drs. Henderson and 

 Bcllew, in crossing the high plateau to Kashgar, found chlorate of 

 potash to be of great value in mitigating the symptoms of distress. 



