The Travels of Marco Polo Volume II Part 171

x.x.xVIII., pp. 444-445.

DUFAR.

We read in the _Ying yai sheng lan:_ "This country [Tsu fa erh] is between the sea and the mountains. To the east and south is nothing but the sea.

To the north and west are ranges of mountains. One reaches it from the kingdom of Ku-li (Calicut) journeying north-westward for ten days and nights. It has no walled towns or villages. The people all follow the religion of the Moslims. Their physical appearance is good, their culture is great, the language sincere.

"The native products are frankincense, which is the sap of a tree. There is also dragon's blood, aloes, myrrh, _an-hsi-hsiang_ (benzoin), liquid storax, _muh-pieh-tzu (Momordica cochinchinensis)_, and the like, all of which they exchange for Chinese hempen cloth, silks, and china-ware."

(ROCKHILL, _T'oung Pao_, XVI., 1915, pp. 611-612.)

The _Sing ch'a sheng lan_ mentions: "The products are the _tsu-la-fa_ (giraffe), gold coins, leopards, ostriches, frankincense, ambergris."

(Ibid., p. 614.)

Dufar is mentioned by Chau Ju-kwa under the name of Nu-fa among the dependencies of the country of the _Ta-sh_ (Arabs). (HIRTH and ROCKHILL, pp. 116, 121.)

x.x.xVIII., pp. 445-449.

FRANKINCENSE.

Chau Ju-kwa (HIRTH and ROCKHILL, pp. 195-196) tells us: _Ju hiang_ ('milk incense'), or _hun-lu-hiang_, comes from the three Ta-sh countries of Ma-lo-pa, Sh-ho, and Nu-fa, from the depths of the remotest mountain valleys. The tree which yields this drug may, on the whole, be compared to the _sung_ (pine). Its trunk is notched with a hatchet, upon which the resin flows out, and when hardened, turns into incense, which is gathered and made into lumps. It is transported on elephants to the Ta-shi (on the coast); the Ta-shi load it upon their ships for barter against other goods in San-fo-ts'i: and it is for this reason that the incense is commonly collected at San-fo-ts'i [the three ports of the Hadhranaut coast].

"When the foreign merchants come to that place to trade, the Customs authorities, according to the relative strength of its fragrance, distinguish thirteen cla.s.ses of incense. Of these, the very best is called _kien-hiang_ or 'picked incense': it is round and of the size of the end of a finger; it is commonly called _ti-ju_ or 'dripping milk.' The second quality is called _p'ing ju_, or 'potted milk,' and its colour is inferior to that of the 'picked incense.' The next quality is called _p'ing hiang_, or 'potted incense.' so called, they say, owing to its being prized so much at the time of gathering, that it is placed in pots (_p'ing_). In this _p'ing hiang_ (variety of frankincense) there are three grades, superior, medium and inferior. The next quality is called _tai-hiang_, or 'bag incense'; thus called, they say, because at the time of gathering, it is merely put into bags; it is also divided into three qualities, like the _p'ing hiang_.

"The next kind is the _ju-t'a_; it consists of incense mixed with gravel.

"The next kind is the _he-t'a_, because its colour is black. The next kind is the _shui-sh-he-t'a_, because it consists of incense which has been 'water damaged' the aroma turned, and the colour spoiled while on board ship.

"Mixed incense of various qualities and consisting of broken pieces is called _cho-siau_ ('cut-up'); when pa.s.sed through a sieve and made into dust, it is called _ch'an-mo_ ('powder'). The above are the various varieties of frankincense."

BOOK FOURTH.

WARS AMONG THE TARTAR PRINCES AND SOME ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN COUNTRIES.

XXII., p. 488.

RUSSIA.

"It seems that Russia [Chinese _A-lo-sz'_ = Mongol _Oros_; the modern Chinese name for Russia is _Wo-lo-sz'_] was unknown to the nations of Eastern Asia before the Mongol period. In the Mongol and Chinese annals the Russians are first mentioned after Subutai's invasion of Southern Russia in 1223. The _Yuan chao pi shi_ terms Russia or the Russians _Orus_, as they are called even now by the Mongols. The Chinese of the Mongol period write _A-lo-sz'_, sometimes also _Wa-lo-sz'_ or _U-lu-sz'_.

All these names evidently render the Mongol appellation _Orus_.

"In the _Yuan sh_, Russia is frequently mentioned.... I may notice here some other instances where the Russians are spoken of in the _Yuan-sh_.

We read in the annals, _s.a._ 1253, that the Emperor Meng k'o (Mangu) ordered Bi-dje Bie-rh-k'o to be sent to Wu-lo-sz' in order to take a census of the people.

"It is an interesting fact recorded in the _Yuan sh_ that there was in the first half of the fourteenth century a settlement of Russians near Peking. In the annals, chap. x.x.xIV., _s.a._ 1330, it is stated that the Emperor Wen Tsung (Tob Timur, 1329-32, the great grandson of Kubilai), formed a regiment composed of _U-lo-sz'_ or Russians. This regiment being commanded by a _wan hu_ (commander of ten thousand of the third degree), received the name 'The Ever-faithful Russian Life-guard.' It was placed under the direct control of the council of war. Farther on in the same chapter it is stated that 140 _king_ of land, north of _Ta tu_ (Peking) was bought from the peasants and allotted to these Russians, to establish a camp and to form a military colony. We read again in the same chapter that they were furnished with implements of agriculture, and were bound to present for the imperial table every kind of game, fish, etc., found in the forests, rivers, and lakes of the country where their camp was situated. This Russian regiment is again mentioned in chap. x.x.xV.

"In chapter x.x.xVI. it is recorded that in the year 1332 the prince Djang-ghi presented 170 Russian prisoners and received a pecuniary reward.

On the same page we read that clothes and corn were bestowed on a thousand Russians. In the same year the prince Yen t'ie-mu-rh presented 1500 Russian prisoners to the Chinese emperor, and another prince, A-rh-ghia-shi-li, presented thirty.

"Finally, in the biography of Bo yen, chap. Cx.x.xVIII., he is stated to have been appointed in 1334 commander of the emperor's life-guard, composed of Mongols, Kipchaks, and Russians." (E. BRETSCHNEIDER, _Mediaeval Researches_, II., pp. 79-81.)

Prof. Parker (_Asiatic Q. Rev._, Jan., 1904, p. 148) mentions the appointment of a Russian Governor in 1337, and says: "It was the practice of Princes in the West to send 'presents' of Russian captives. In one case Yen Temur sent as many as 2500 in one batch."

APPENDICES.

LIST OF MSS. OF MARCO POLO'S BOOK SO FAR AS THEY ARE KNOWN.[1]

II., p. 533.

GLASGOW, Hunterian Museum.[2] No. 84, vellum, 4to, Cent. XV.: 1. Guido de Colonna's Destruction of Troy. 2. Julius Valerius' History of Alexander the Great. 3. Archbishop Turpin's Itinerary. 4. Marco Polo.

_Begins_ (25, 5 [f. 191 (197) r'o, lines 1-3): -- [blue] Incipit liber domini marci Pauli de Venecijs | de condicionibus et consuetudinibus orientalium regionum [rubric] L [small illuminated initial] Ibrum prudentis honorabilis ac fidelissimi domini marci.

_Ends_ (33, 3 [f. 253 (259) r'o, lines 8-12): girfalci et herodij qui inde postmodum ad diuersas prouincias | et regiones deferuntur et cetera.

-- [blue] Explicit liber domini marci Pauli | de Venecijs de diuisionibus et consue- | tudinibus orientalium regionum [Pipino's Version].

5. Frater Odoricus Forojuliensis.

6. Iohannis Mandeville, _De Mirabilibus_.

II., p. 533.

GLASGOW, Hunterian Museum, Cent. XIV.[3] No. 458, vellum, 4to. 1. Marci Pavli Veneti, _De Orientalibus Regionibus_.

_Begins_--after a preface by "Frater Franciscus Pipinus de Bononia"

beginning (I, 1 r'o, lines 1-4): Incipit liber primus domini marci pauli de venecijs de orien [rubric] | L [gilt historiated initial with gestures forming a floreated border.] Ibrum prudentis talibus regionibus. Prolo [last three words rubric] | honorabilis ac fidelissimi domini gus. [last word rubric] | marci pauli de venetijs de conditio | and ending (i, 2 r'o, line 3): nostri ihesu christi cunctorum uisibilium et inuisibilium creatoris, after which comes a list of the chapters, t.i.tles and numbers (the latter rubricated) which concludes (i, 7 r'o, line i): D (small blue initial with red ornament) e prouincia ruthenorum, xlix.--(i, 7 r'o, lines 2-5): Capitulum primum primi libri. Qualiter et quare dominus | nicholaus pauli de venetijs, et dominus marchus [rubric] | T [blue and red illuminated initial with minute spread eagle in centre] Empore quo transierunt ad partes [last three words rubric] | balduinus princeps orientales. [last words rubric.]

_Ends_ (14, 1 r'o, lines 26, 27): et diuersas prouincias deferuntur.

Explicit liber domini | marci pauli de venetis de diuisionibus et consuetudinibus orientalium.

2. Odoric.

II., p. 534.

PARIS, see No. 18--Bibliotheque Nationale Departement des Ma.n.u.scrits--Livre des Merveilles, Odoric de Pordenone, Mandeville, Hayton, etc.--Reproduction des 265 miniatures du Ma.n.u.scrit francais 2810 de la Bibliotheque Nationale. Paris, Imprimerie Berthaud freres, 31, rue de Bellefond, 2 vol. in 8.

Marco Polo, Planches, 1-84.

II., p. 539.

ANTWERP, Museum Plantin-Moretus. Exhibited in Room III., No. 61: _Extraits du Livre de Marco Polo de Venise_ et d'un livre sur l'origine de quelques villes belges.