MARCO POLO 43 



wild place. All the wood that grows therein consists of 

 odoriferous trees. . . . When you leave the island of 

 Pentam, and sail about 100 miles you reach the Island of 

 Java the Less. For all its name 'tis none so small but and an 

 that it has a compass of 2,000 miles and more. Now I name d Java 

 will tell you all about this island. You see there are upon the Less, 

 it eight Kingdoms and eight crowned Kings. The people 

 are all Idolaters, and every Kingdom has a language of its 

 own. This island hath great abundance of treasure, with 

 costly spices, lign-aloes and spikenard, and many other 

 things that never come into our parts. Now I am going to 

 tell you all about these eight Kingdoms, or at least the 

 greater part of them. But let me premise one marvellous 

 thing, and that is the fact that this Island lies so far to the 

 South that the North Star, little or much, is never to be 

 seen ! " In one Kingdom " Messer Marco Polo was detained 

 five months by the weather, which would not allow his 

 going on. And I tell you here again, neither the Pole 

 Star nor the Stars of the Maestro (Great Bear or Plough ?) 

 were to be seen. The people here are wild Idolaters ; they 

 have a King who is great and rich, but they also call them- 

 selves subjects of the Great Kaan. When Messer Marco 

 was detained on this Island five months by contrary winds, 

 he landed with about 2,000 men in his company ; they dug 

 large ditches on the landward side to encompass the party, 

 resting at either end on the sea-haven, and within the 

 ditches they made bulwarks or stockades of timber for 

 fear of those brutes of man-eaters." Messer Marco Polo 

 gave a vivid accoomt of things seen or heard of in the 

 island ; " wild" elephants," " numerous unicorns " (rhin- 

 oceroses), and " men with tails " who " live in the 

 mountains." 



" When you leave Java the Less, you sail North about Nicobar and 

 1 50 miles, and then you come to two Islands ; Necuveran ^J^^id 

 and Angamanain. In the former are cloves and brazil, Ceylon, 

 and sundry other good spices. In the latter, I assure 

 you, all the men have heads like dogs, and teeth and eyes 

 likewise ; in fact, in the face they are all just like big 

 mastiff dogs ! They are a most cruel generation, and eat 



