MARCO POLO 41 



For in that Sea there be but two winds that blow, the one 

 that carries them outward, and the other that brings them 

 homeward ; and the one of these winds blows all the 

 winter, and the other all the summer. And you must 

 know these regions are so far from India that it takes a 

 long time also for the voyage thence. . . . Now let us have 

 done with that region which is very inaccessible and out 

 of the way. Moreover Messer Marco Polo never was 

 there. And let me tell you the Great Kaan has nothing to 

 do with them, nor do they render him any tribute or service." 



He therefore returns to his description of the Chinese 

 coast, and takes us Southward to "the great country called 

 Chamba," the modern Cochin China, a very rich region, 

 where the people are idolaters, and pay a yearly tribute of 

 elephants, and nothing but elephants, to the Great Kaan. 

 And then comes the passage that is of especial interest to 

 us. " When you sail from Chamba 1,500 miles in a course Java " the 

 between South and South- East, you come to a great island f/ia^nn the 

 called Java. And the experienced mariners of those world." 

 Islands, who know the matter well, say that it is the 

 greatest Island in the world, and has a compass of more 

 than 3,000 miles. The Island is of surpassing wealth, 

 producing black pepper, nutmegs, spikenard, galingah, 

 cubebs, cloves and all other kinds of spices. The Island is 

 also frequented by a vast amount of shipping, and by 

 merchants who buy and sell costly goods for which they 

 reap great profit. Indeed the treasure " (" gold," says 

 another manuscript) "of this Island is so great as to be 

 past telling. And I can assure you the Great Kaan never 

 could get possession of this Island, on account of its great 

 distance, and the great expense of an expedition thither. 

 The merchants of Zayton and Manzi draw annually great 

 returns from the country." 



Marco's words are evidence that Chinese merchants 

 undertook long voyages, sometimes lasting a year, among 

 the Spice Islands. It is clear too that they had a pros- 

 perous trade with Java, though the account given of 

 that island (from hearsay again) is curiously inexact ; 

 and it has been thought that, in the matter of gold, he 



