Chap. II. ' of Marco Polo. 
597 
After this, talcing Leave, Chidcato gave them four Tables 
of Gold, each a Cubit long, and live Fingers broad, of the 
Weight of three or four Marks, in which were written, that 
in the Power of the eternal God the Name of the Great 
Khan fhould be honoured and praifed many Years, and 
every one who fhould not obey fhould be put to Death, and 
his Goods confifcated. In them were further contained, that 
thefe three Emhaffadors fhould be honoured, and Service 
done them in all Lands and Countries as to his own Perfon, 
and that Horfes, Convoys, Expences and Neceffaries, 
fhould be given them all which was fo duly put in Exe- 
cution, that fometimes they had two hundred Horfes for 
their Safe- guard. In this their Travel, they heard that the 
Great Khan was dead, which took from them all Defire of 
returning thither. 
They rode till they came to Trebizond , and from thence 
to Conftantinople , and after to Negropont, and at laft came 
with greatRiches fafeto Venice , A. D. 1295. 
Here ends the Hiftorical Introduction of our Author, 
which fhews us how he came to be qualified for writing the 
following Defcription of the remoteft Countries in the Eaft. 
The Reader will naturally obferve, that our Author wrote 
underveryparticularCircumftances^shavingnootherKnow- 
ledge than what he acquired amongft the T artars , and there- 
fore though the harfh and uncouth Names that occur in the 
fubfequent Relation of his Travels may both disfigure and 
perplex them, yet they very plainly prove the Sincerity and 
Authority of otrr Author’s Writings, fince taking Things 
as he has flated them, it was fimply impoftible that he 
fhould have written them any otherwife than as they ftand •, 
for it was his hard Lot to travel with the far tar s, and to 
pen the Hiftory of his Travels in a Prifon, fo that their 
Imperfections ought not to be afcribed to the Man, but to 
his Circumftances. 
7. There are two Armenia's, the Greater and the Lefs. 
In the Lejfer Armenia the King refides., in a City called 
Sebafte , and in all his Country is obferved Juftice and good 
Government. The Kingdom itfelf hath many Cities, For- 
treifes, and Caftles ; the Soil alfo is fertile, and the Coun- 
try abounds with every thing neceffary, nor is there any 
want of Game, or Wild-Fowl j the Air indeed is not very 
] good. The Gentlemen of Armenia , in times paft, were 
1 flout Men, and good Soldiers, but are become now effe- 
i minate and nice, give themfdves up to Drunkennefs and 
Riot. There is a certain City in this Kingdom feated near 
the Sea, which is called Giazza , having an excellent Ha- 
ven, whither Merchants refort from divers Countries, and 
; even from Venice and Genoa , on account of feveral forts of 
| Merchandize brought thither, efpecially Spices of fundry 
I kinds, and abundance of other valuable Goods brought 
thither out of the Eaft Countries ; for this Place is, as it 
1 were, the fettled Mart of all the Eaft a . 
In Turcomania are three forts of Nations, viz. the Tur- 
: comans , or Turkmen, who obferve the Law of Mohammed : 
They are Men illiterate, rude, and favage, inhabiting the 
f Mountains, and inacceffible Places, where they can find 
f Failures •, for they live only by their Cattle. There are 
good Horfes in this Country, which are called Turkijh 
jl Horfes : Mules are alfo in that Country of great Eftima- 
l lion. The other Nations are Grecians and Armenians, who 
poffefs the Cities and Towns, and bellow their Labour on 
f Merchandize and Arts. They make the belt Carpets in 
the World, and they have many Cities, the chief whereof 
are Cogno, or Iconium, Cafarea, and Sebajle, where St. 
: Bqfil buffered Martyrdom for Chrift, and they acknow- 
ledged one of the Khans, Kings of the Tartars for their 
; Lord. 
Armenia the Greater , which is a very large Province tri- 
butary to the Tartars , and hath many Cities and Towns, 
:the chief City whereof is called Arzugia , and the beft 
I Buckram in the World is made there, moil wholefome hot 
| Waters, alfo fpring there for the wafhing and curing of 
•Mens Bodies, and the other more famous Cities next to the 
Metropolis are Argiron and Darziz. In the Summer Time 
many Tartars relbrt there, with their Flocks and Herds 
drawn thither by the Fatnefs of their Failures ^ and again 
in the Winter depart for a certain Time by reafon of the 
abundance of Snow. The Ark of Noah remained in the 
Mountains of this Armenia . 
This Country hath the Province of Mofull and Meridin 
bordering on the Eaft 1 but on the North is Zorzaina , in 
the Confines of which a Fountain is found, from which a 
Liquor like Oil flows, and though unprofitable for the fea- 
foning of Meat, yet is very fit for the fupplying of Lamps, 
and to anoint other things ; and this natural Oil flows con- 
Handy, and that in Plenty enough to lade Camels. In 
Zorzania is a King called David Melic , or King David % 
one Part of the Province is fubjed: unto him, the other pays 
Tribute to a Khan of the Tartars •, the Woods there are 
of Box-trees. The Country extends to the two Seas, Mar- 
maggiore, or the Euxine , and that of Baccu , or the Caf- 
pian, which containeth in Circuit 2800 Miles, and is like a 
Lake, having no Communication with other Seas. In it 
are many Elands, Cities, and Caftles, fome of which are 
inhabited by thofe that fled from th ^Tartars out of Perjia b . 
The People of Zorzania are Chriftians, obferving the 
fame Rites with other Chriftians. They keep their Hair 
fhort like the Weftern Clergy ; the Inhabitants have many 
Cities, and their Country abounds with Silk, of which they 
make very fine Manufactures. Moxul is a Province in 
which there are many forts of People, fome called Arabia 
are Mohammedans , others are Chriftians, dome Neftorians „ 
others Jacobites, and others Armenians ; and they have a 
Patriarch called Jacolet , who ordains Archbifhops, Bifhops, 
and Abbots, and fends them through all Parts of India, and 
to Cairo and Baldach, or Bagdat, and where-ever Chriftians 
dwell, as is done by the Pope of Rome ; and all the Stuffs 
of Gold and Silk called Mufleims are wrought in Moxul. 
But in the Mountains of this Kingdom dwell the Peo- 
ple called Curdi , of whom fome are Neftorians, others Jaco- 
bites, and fome Followers of Mohammed ; they are wicked 
Men, and rob Merchants. Near to them is another Pro* 
vince called Mus, or Meridin, wherein grows great Quan- 
tities of Cotton, whereof they make Buckrams, and other 
Works •, they are fubjed to the Tartars. Baldach, or 
Bagdat, is a great City, in which refided the Great Khaliff, 
that is, the Pope of all the Saracens •, a River runs through 
it, from whence to the Sea is accounted feventeen Days 
Journey. They fail by a City called Chiji •, but before they 
reach the Sea they come to Balfora , about which grow the 
beft Dates in the World. In Baldach, or Bagdat, are 
many Manufadures of Gold and Silk. There are wrought 
Damafks and Velvets, with Figures of various Creatures $ 
All the Pearls in Chriftendom come from thence. In that 
City is an Univerfity, where is fludied the Law of Moham- 
med, Phyfick, Aftronomy, and Geomancy. It is the chief 
City in thofe Parts. 
When the Tartars began to extend their Conquefts, there 
were four Brethren, the eldeft of which, Mangu, reigned in 
Sedia. Thefe purpofmg to fubdue the World, went one to 
the Eaft, another to the North, to the South a third, 
which was Ulan , and the other to the Weft. In the Year 
of our Lord 1250, Ulan having a great Army of one hun- 
dred thoufand Horfe, befides Foot, ufed Policy, and hav- 
ing hid a great Part of his Men, brought, by pretending 
Flight, the Khaliff into his Ambufcade, and took him and 
the City, in which he found infinite Store of Treafure, in- 
fomuch that he was amazed. He fent for the Khaliff and 
reproved him, that in that War he had not provided him- 
felf with Soldiers for Defence, and commanded that he 
fhould be enclofed in that Tower where his Treafure was 
without other Suftenance c . 
This feemed a juft Judgment from our Lord Jefus 
Chrift on him j for in the Year 1225, feeking to convert 
the Chriftians to the Mohammedan Religion, and taking 
Advantage from that Place of the Gofpel, That he which 
u Armenia the If, and I added this Note only to put the Reader in Mind, that our Author 
. iat a to reat * «rt or the Trade from Europe to the Indies was earned on this Way by the Venetians and Genoefe. 
■be nodoubTabouTit! ea & Mt “ be met with in any other Auth “ ; but the Account S iven us b 7 Marco is fo dear and exaft, that there can 
" There 'te 10 ? Ur AUt n° f l as tbefe hi f oncaI F ? as > r which are capable of being verified by other Authors. 
M I 4 x. tiGn.S was who was Brother to TVIa/nvu- Khan % hp pnfprprl f-Lpfp A - - - - Axui* r of 
hMb 
Tk*. l p o ■ ,, , 7 7, VU1 » jxficuioji as uieie nmoncai races, wnicti are capable 
and was ftauikti-Khan, ^ who was Brother to Mangu- Khan 5 he entered thefe Countries A.D. izx- 
■\ M s8, put an m< ^ 19 ?ii e Empire of the Abbaftidian Khaliffs, by taking Bagdat, as our Author relates it. 
iYJpp. 41, 
7 
N 
