The Travels of Marco Polo Volume II Part 53

"Say forth thy tale and tary not the time Lo Depeford, and it is half way prime."

--(Reeve's Prologue.)

Definitions of these terms as given by Sir H. Nicolas and Mr. Thomas Wright (_Chron. of Hist._ p. 195, and _Marco Polo_, p. 392) do not agree with those of Italian authorities; perhaps in the north they were applied with variation. Dante dwells on the matter in two pa.s.sages of his _Convito_ (Tratt. III. cap. 6, and Tratt. IV. cap. 23); and the following diagram elucidates the terms in accordance with his words, and with other Italian authority, oral and literary:--

"_Te lucis ante terminum._"

X 12 6 .

Compieta. .

* 11 5 .

Mezza-Vespro. .

* 10 4 .

Vespro. X 9 3 .

. E . c * 8 c 2 P.M.

. l Mezza-Nona. . e C . s i * 7 i 1 v . a i Nona. . s l . t # 6 i 12 . c H Sesta. . a o . l u * 5 11 r . H s . o . u A.M.

* 4 r 10 . s Terza. .

X 3 9 .

* 2 8 .

Mezza-Terza. .

* 1 7 .

Prima. .

X 12 6

"_Jam Lucis orto Sidere._"

NOTE 4.--Valentyn mentions among what the Coromandel Hindus reckon unlucky rencounters which will induce a man to turn back on the road: an empty can, buffaloes, donkeys, a dog or he-goat _without_ food in his mouth, a monkey, a loose hart, a goldsmith, a carpenter, a barber, a tailor, a cotton-cleaner, a smith, a widow, a corpse, a person coming from a funeral without having washed or changed, men carrying b.u.t.ter, oil, sweet milk, mola.s.ses, acids, iron, or weapons of war. Lucky objects to meet are an elephant, a camel, a laden cart, an unladen horse, a cow or bullock laden with water (if unladen 'tis an ill omen), a dog or he-goat _with_ food in the mouth, a cat on the right hand, one carrying meat, curds, or sugar, etc., etc. (p. 91). (See also _Sonnerat_, I. 73.)

NOTE 5.--_Chughi_ of course stands for JOGI, used loosely for any Hindu ascetic. Arghun Khan of Persia (see Prologue, ch. xvii.), who was much given to alchemy and secret science, had asked of the Indian Bakhshis how they prolonged their lives to such an extent. They a.s.sured him that a mixture of sulphur and mercury was the Elixir of Longevity. Arghun accordingly took this precious potion for eight months;--and died shortly after! (See _Hammer_, _Ilkhans_, I. 391-393, and _Q.R._ p. 194.) Bernier mentions wandering Jogis who had the art of preparing mercury so admirably that one or two grains taken every morning restored the body to perfect health (II. 130). The _Mercurius Vitae_ of Paracelsus, which, according to him, renewed youth, was composed chiefly of mercury and antimony.

(_Opera_, II. 20.) Sulphur and mercury, combined under different conditions and proportions, were regarded by the Alchemists both of East and West as the origin of all the metals. Quicksilver was called the mother of the metals, and sulphur the father. (See _Vincent. Bellov. Spec.

Natur._ VII. c. 60, 62, and _Bl. Ain-i-Akbari_, p. 40.)

[We read in Ma Huan's account of Cochin (_J.R.A.S._ April, 1896, p.

343): "Here also is another cla.s.s of men, called Chokis (Yogi), who lead austere lives like the Taoists of China, but who, however, are married.

These men from the time they are born do not have their heads shaved or combed, but plait their hair into several tails, which hang over their shoulders; they wear no clothes, but round their waists they fasten a strip of rattan, over which they hang a piece of white calico; they carry a conch-sh.e.l.l, which they blow as they go along the road; they are accompanied by their wives, who simply wear a small bit of cotton cloth round their loins. Alms of rice and money are given to them by the people whose houses they visit."

(See _F. Bernier_, _Voy._, ed. 1699, II., _Des Gentils de l'Hindoustan_, pp. 97, seqq.)

We read in the _Nine Heavens_ of Amir Khusru (_Elliot_, III. p. 563): "A _jogi_ who could restrain his breath in this way (diminishing the daily number of their expirations of breath) lived in an idol to an age of more than three hundred and fifty years."

"I have read in a book that certain chiefs of Turkistan sent amba.s.sadors with letters to the Kings of India on the following mission, viz.: that they, the chiefs, had been informed that in India drugs were procurable which possessed the property of prolonging human life, by the use of which the King of India attained to a very great age ... and the chiefs of Turkistan begged that some of this medicine might be sent to them, and also information as to the method by which the Rais preserved their health so long." (_Elliot_, II. p. 174.)--H.C.]

"The worship of the ox is still common enough, but I can find no trace of the use of the effigy worn on the forehead. The two Tam Pundits whom I consulted, said that there was no trace of the custom in Tamil literature, but they added that the usage was so truly Hindu in character, and was so particularly described, that they had no doubt it prevailed in the time of the person who described it." (_MS. Note by the Rev. Dr. Caldwell_.)

I may add that the _Jangams_, a Linga-worshipping sect of Southern India, wear a copper or silver _linga_ either round the neck _or on the forehead_.

The name of Jangam means "movable," and refers to their wearing and worshipping the portable symbol instead of the fixed one like the proper Saivas. (_Wilson, Mack. Coll._ II. 3; _J.R.A.S._ N.S.V. 142 seqq.)

NOTE 6.--In G.T. _proques_, which the Glossary to that edition absurdly renders _porc_; it is some form apparently of _pidocchio_.

NOTE 7.--It would seem that there is no eccentricity of man in any part of the world for which a close parallel shall not be found in some other part. Such strange probation as is here spoken of, appears to have had too close a parallel in the old Celtic Church, and perhaps even, at an earlier date, in the Churches of Africa. (See _Todd's Life of St. Patrick_, p. 91, note and references, and _Sat.u.r.day Review_ of 13th July, 1867, p. 65.) The latter describes a system absolutely like that in the text, but does not quote authorities.

[1] From Sola was formed apparently _Sola-mandala_, or _Cholatnandala_, which the Portuguese made into Choromandel and the Dutch into Coromandel.

[2] I may add that possibly the real reading may have been _thoiach_.

CHAPTER XXI.

CONCERNING THE CITY OF CAIL.

Cail is a great and n.o.ble city, and belongs to ASHAR, the eldest of the five brother Kings. It is at this city that all the ships touch that come from the west, as from Hormos and from Kis and from Aden, and all Arabia, laden with horses and with other things for sale. And this brings a great concourse of people from the country round about, and so there is great business done in this city of Cail.[NOTE 1]

The King possesses vast treasures, and wears upon his person great store of rich jewels. He maintains great state and administers his kingdom with great equity, and extends great favour to merchants and foreigners, so that they are very glad to visit his city.[NOTE 2]

This King has some 300 wives; for in those parts the man who has most wives is most thought of.

As I told you before, there are in this great province of Maabar five crowned Kings, who are all own brothers born of one father and of one mother, and this king is one of them. Their mother is still living. And when they disagree and go forth to war against one another, their mother throws herself between them to prevent their fighting. And should they persist in desiring to fight, she will take a knife and threaten that if they will do so she will cut off the paps that suckled them and rip open the womb that bare them, and so perish before their eyes. In this way hath she full many a time brought them to desist. But when she dies it will most a.s.suredly happen that they will fall out and destroy one another.[NOTE 3]

[All the people of this city, as well as of the rest of India, have a custom of perpetually keeping in the mouth a certain leaf called _Tembul_, to gratify a certain habit and desire they have, continually chewing it and spitting out the saliva that it excites. The Lords and gentlefolks and the King have these leaves prepared with camphor and other aromatic spices, and also mixt with quicklime. And this practice was said to be very good for the health.[NOTE 4] If any one desires to offer a gross insult to another, when he meets him he spits this leaf or its juice in his face. The other immediately runs before the King, relates the insult that has been offered him, and demands leave to fight the offender. The King supplies the arms, which are sword and target, and all the people flock to see, and there the two fight till one of them is killed. They must not use the point of the sword, for this the King forbids.][NOTE 5]

NOTE 1.--KAIL, now forgotten, was long a famous port on the coast of what is now the Tinnevelly District of the Madras Presidency. It is mentioned as a port of Ma'bar by our author's contemporary Rashiduddin, though the name has been perverted by careless transcription into _Bawal_ and _Kabal_. (See _Elliot_, I. pp. 69, 72.) It is also mistranscribed as _Kabil_ in Quatremere's publication of Abdurrazzak, who mentions it as "a place situated opposite the island of Serendib, otherwise called Ceylon,"

and as being the extremity of what he was led to regard as Malabar (p.

19). It is mentioned as _Cahila_, the site of the pearl-fishery, by Nicolo Conti (p. 7). The _Roteiro_ of Vasco da Gama notes it as _Caell_, a state having a Mussulman King and a Christian (for which read _Kafir_) people.

Here were many pearls. Giovanni d'Empoli notices it (_Gael_) also for the pearl-fishery, as do Varthema and Barbosa. From the latter we learn that it was still a considerable seaport, having rich Mahomedan merchants, and was visited by many ships from Malabar, Coromandel, and Bengal. In the time of the last writers it belonged to the King of Kaulam, who generally resided at Kail.

The real site of this once celebrated port has, I believe, till now never been identified in any published work. I had supposed the still existing Kayalpattanam to have been in all probability the place, and I am again indebted to the kindness of the Rev. Dr. Caldwell for conclusive and most interesting information on this subject. He writes:

"There are no relics of ancient greatness in Kayalpattanam, and no traditions of foreign trade, and it is admitted by its inhabitants to be a place of recent origin, which came into existence after the abandonment of the true Kayal. They state also that the name of Kayalpattanam has only recently been given to it, as a reminiscence of the older city, and that its original name was Sonagarpattanam.[1] There is another small port in the same neighbourhood, a little to the north of Kayalpattanam, called Pinna Cael in the maps, properly Punnei-Kayal, from _Punnei_, the Indian Laurel; but this is also a place of recent origin, and many of the inhabitants of this place, as of Kayalpattanam, state that their ancestors came originally from Kayal, subsequently to the removal of the Portuguese from that place to Tuticorin.

"The Cail of Marco Polo, commonly called in the neighbourhood _Old Kayal_, and erroneously named _Koil_ in the Ordnance Map of India, is situated on the Tamraparni River, about a mile and a half from its mouth. The Tamil word _kayal_ means 'a backwater, a lagoon,' and the map shows the existence of a large number of these _kayals_ or backwaters near the mouth of the river. Many of these kayals have now dried up more or less completely, and in several of them salt-pans have been established. The name of Kayal was naturally given to a town erected on the margin of a _kayal_; and this circ.u.mstance occasioned also the adoption of the name of Punnei Kayal, and served to give currency to the name of Kayalpattanam a.s.sumed by Sonagarpattanam, both those places being in the vicinity of kayals.

"KAYAL stood originally on or near the sea-beach, but it is now about a mile and a half inland, the sand carried down by the river having silted up the ancient harbour, and formed a waste sandy tract between the sea and the town. It has now shrunk into a petty village, inhabited partly by Mahommedans and partly by Roman Catholic fishermen of the Parava caste, with a still smaller hamlet adjoining inhabited by Brahmans and Vellalars; but unlikely as the place may now seem to have been identical with 'the great and n.o.ble city' described by Marco Polo, its ident.i.ty is established by the relics of its ancient greatness which it still retains. Ruins of old fortifications, temples, storehouses, wells and tanks, are found everywhere along the coast for two or three miles north of the village of Kayal, and a mile and a half inland; the whole plain is covered with broken tiles and remnants of pottery, chiefly of China manufacture, and several mounds are apparent, in which, besides the sh.e.l.ls of the pearl-oyster and broken pottery, mineral drugs (cinnabar, brimstone, etc.), such as are sold in the bazaars of sea-port towns, and a few ancient coins have been found. I send you herewith an interesting coin discovered in one of those mounds by Mr. R. Puckle, collector of Tinnevelly.[2]

"The people of the place have forgotten the existence of any trade between Kayal and China, though the China pottery that lies all about testifies to its existence at some former period; but they retain a distinct tradition of its trade with the Arabian and Persian coasts, as vouched for by Marco Polo, that trade having in some degree survived to comparatively recent times.... Captain Phipps, the Master Attendant at Tuticorin, says: 'The roadstead of Old Cael (Kayal) is still used by native craft when upon the coast and meeting with south winds, from which it is sheltered. The depth of water is 16 to 14 feet; I fancy years ago it was deeper.... There is a surf on the bar at the entrance (of the river), but boats go through it at all times.'