6x6 » VO'f A GE S and ERA FEES 
irig, thereof, went to him, arid offered him their Service, 
to devife certain Engines, after the Manner of the Weft, 
able to ilioot a Stone of three hundred Weight, thereby to 
kill Men and rain Houfes. The Khan appointed Carpen- 
ters, which were Nefiorian Chriftians, who made three of 
thefe Engines in a ftiort Space, which were proved before 
him, and by Ships fent to his Army. Planting them there- 
fore againft the City Sianfu , they began .to call great 
Stones into the City ; and the ftrft, falling upon a certain 
Houfe, broke the moft part of it with the Violence thereof, 
which the belieged Inhabitants feeing, were very much 
aftonifhed, and yielded themfelves, and became fubjedl to 
the Great Khar., on the fame Conditions with the reft of 
Mangi , to the great Repute of the two Venetian Brethren, 
the one the Author’s Father, and the other his Uncle. 
From the City of Sianfu to a certain City called Singui , 
are accounted fifteen Miles South- eaft ward, which, altho’ 
it is not very large, yet has a prodigious Number of Ships, 
being feated upon the greateft River in the World, called 
Vfuian , the Breadth of which in fome Places is ten Miles, in 
others eight, and in many fix *, but the Length thereof ex- 
tendeth above an hundred Days Journey from the Source of 
it to the Sea. Innumerable other Rivers flow into it, which 
run through divers Regions, and are navigable ; and thefe 
make it fo great, that incredible Quantities of Merchandize 
are brought by this River. There are alfo many other Cities, 
in Number about two hundred, which participate of the 
Advantages of this River, for it runs through the Bounds 
of fixteen Provinces. The greateft Commodity is Salt, 
wherewith all the Cities which communicate by thefe Wa- 
ters are fupplied. Mafter Marco faw at one time at Singui 
five thouland Vefifels, and yet other Cities on the River 
have more ; all thefe Ships are covered, and have but one 
Maft, and one Sail, and ufually carry four thoufand, and 
fo upwards, fome of them twelve thoufand Venetia Cantari ; 
neither do they ufe Cordage of Hemp, except for the 
Mali and Sail, but have Canes fifteen Paces long, which 
they fplit into thin Parts from one End to the other, and 
binding the cut Parts together, and wreathing them, make 
very long Ropes, fo that fome of them contain three hun- 
dred Fathom in Length •, and thofe Ropes are as ftrong as 
Hemp, and ferve for Halfes and Cables to draw their Ships 
up and down the River, each Veflel having ten or twelve 
Horfes for that Purpofe. 
On that River, in many Places, are rocky Hillocks, on 
which are built Monafteries to their Idols, and all the way 
are Vallies and Places inhabited. Cayngui is a little City 
upon the fame River Sou th-eaft ward, where every Year is 
brought Plenty of Corn and Rice, carried for the moft part 
to Cambalu ; for they pafs thither by Lakes and Rivers, 
and by one large Canal, which the Khan caufed to be made 
for a Pafifage from one River to another, and from Mangi 
to Cambalu , without going to Sea ; which Work is beau- 
tiful and wonderful for the Sight and Length, and more for 
the Profit which accrues thereby to the Cities. He hath 
made alfo great Caufeways to go on Land by thefe Waters 
commodioufly. In the midft of the faid River is an Ifland, or 
Rockj on which is eredted a great Temple and Monaftery, 
in which are two hundred idolatrous Monks. Cinghianfu is 
a City of Mangi , rich in Merchandize, plentiful of Game, 
having all kind of wild Beafts and Fowl, and of Vidlual. In 
it are two Churches of Nefiorian Chriftians, builtyf.Z). 1274, 
when the Great Khan fent a Governor thither, Marfachis , 
a Nefiorian , who built them. From the City Cinghianfu , 
in three Days Journey South-eaftward, you find many 
Book I. 
Cities and Caftles, all Idolaters, and at iaft come to Tin- 
guigufi a great and fair City, abounding with all kind of 
Provifions w . 
When Baton Chinfam , General of the Army of the 
Tartars , conquered the Province of Mangi , he fent many 
Chriftians called Alant , againft the City, which was double 
walled; into the Inner they retired, into the other the 
Alans entered, and found there abundance of Wine, whereof, 
after a bad Journey, they began to drink fo largely, that 
they were all drunk, and the Citizens in their Sleep, fud- 
denly falling upon them, flew them all, not one efcaping ; 
but Baian hearing this, fent another great Army againft 
thofe Citizens, which in a ftiort Space of Time vanquishing 
the City, in Revenge, put them all to the Sword, leaving 
none alive. The great and excellent City Singui contains 
in Circuit twenty Miles : Multitudes of People are in it, 
it hath many rich Merchants, and induftrious Artificers, 
and it hath alfo very many Phyficians and Magicians, and 
wife Men, or Philofophers. In the Mountains of this City, 
Rhubarb and Ginger grow in great Plenty. This City 
hath fixteen Cities under the Junfdiction thereof, in each 
of which much Trade is carried on, and many curious Arts 
are exercifed, many forts of Silk are made there. The 
Word Singui fignifies the City of the Earth : Alfo they 
have another City which they call Efuinfai^ that is to fay, 
the City of Heaven. From Singui , at the Diftance of one 
Day’s Journey, is Vagiu, where is alfo abundance of Silk, 
and able Artificers, with many other Merchants, as there 
are in general in all the Cities in this Country. 
21. In a Journey of three Days, you find Cities, Caftles, 
and Villages, well peopled, and rich. The People are 
Idolaters, under the Dominion of the Great Khan. At the 
End of thefe Days you come to Vfuinfai, i. e. the City of 
Heaven, which for the Excellency thereof hath that Name ; 
for in the World there is not the like, or a Place, in which 
are found fo many Pleafures, that a Man would think he 
were in Paradile. In this City our Author Marco Polo 
hath often been, and confidered the fame with great Dili- 
gence, obferving the whole State thereof, fetting down 
the fame in his Memorials, as here from them fhall be de- 
clared briefly. This City, by common Report, is an hun- 
dred Miles in Circuit. The Streets and Lanes are very 
long, and very wide ; there are Market-places exceeding 
large ; on the one Side a clear Lake of frefh Water, on the 
other a great River, which enters in many Places, and 
carries away all the Filth of the City, and fo runneth into 
that Lake, thence continuing its Courfe into the Ocean. 
This Courfe of Water caufeth a good Air, and commodi- 
ous Pafifage both by Land, and by thofe Canals. There 
may go both Carts and Barks to carry Necefiaries ; and the 
Report is, that there are twelve thouland Bridges, great and 
Snail, and thofe on the chief Channels are fo high, that a 
Ship without her Mafts may pafs under, and at the fame 
time Chariots and Horfes pafs over it. On the other Side 
the City is a large Canal forty Miles long, which enclofes 
it on that Side, large and full of Water, from the River 
made by the ancient Kings of that Province, both to receive 
the Overflowing of the Water, and befldes that to fortify 
the City, the Earth which was taken out being laid within 
as a Bank or Hill encompaffing it *. 
There are ten great Market-places, befldes others in the 
great Streets, which ,are fquare, half a Mile in each Square ; 
and from the Great Entrance is a principal Street, forty 
Paces wide, running right from one End of the City to the 
other, with many Bridges crofting it, and every four Miles 
w r piiis happened tlie Year before the Death of the Emperor ' Tou-Efong , and in about four Years more all his Children, who fucceeded one after 
the other to the Empire, perifhed. The firft was taken Prifoner by the Tartars, and fent by them into their own Country, where he died in Cap- 
tivity. The fecond was driven to Canton, where he died of a Confumption, at the .Age of eleven Years. The third, whofe Name was Ti-Ping; 
having loft all his Country, was obliged to take Refuge on Board the Fleet, which was purfued, and forced to an Engagement by that of the Tartars. 
When the Chine je Lord, who had the Care of the Emperor’s Perfon, found his Veffel Unrounded, he took the young Prince in his Arms, and jumped 
with him into the Sea. TheEmprefs feeing the laft of her Sons thus unhappily deftroyed, followed his Fate, and threw herfelf alfo into the Sea. One 
whole Squadron of the Chinefe Fleet forced a Paffage through that of the Tartars, but was afterwards deftroyed by a Tempeft, fo that not a Veffel or 
a Man efcaped of the whole Navy ; and the Chinefe Writers fay, that there perifhed in the whole a hundred thoufand Men. The Lofs of this Battle 
-put an End to the Chinefe Empire, and left the Tartars totally Makers of the whole Country. 
x This Defcription of ’the City of Shiinfay has occafioned many Reflexions upon our Author, as if writing of Countries at fo great a Diftance, he 
took the Liberty of impofing on his Readers the Fictions of his Imaginations for the Farits which he had feen. Under this Imputation he for a long 
time laboured, efpecially with fuch as were defirous of maintaining the Reputation of fagacious and penetrating People ; but by degrees the Credit of 
our Author has got the better of all fuch Xniinuations, and the Relations given by the Portuguese, and other Europeans, who went thither after the Dif- 
co very of the Pailage by the Cape of Good Hope, have put it out of doubt that he did not invent any Part of his Relation, but reprefented things fairly as 
they appeared to him, though certainly with fewer Circumftances, and lefs Accuracy, than fucceeding Travellers, who had more Time to examine, 
and greater Capacities for defcribing what they faw, 
4 ’ . 13 
