Celebrated Travels and Travellers Vol 1 First Part Chapter IV part 3 - Marco Polo.

Jules Verne (0:01)

Section 8 of Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit librivox.org. Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Volume 1 Exploration of the World by Jules Verne. First part, chapter 4, part 3 Marco Polo When Marco Polo had been at Camberlough some time, he was sent on a mission that kept him absent from the capital for four months. Ten miles southwards from Camberlough, he crossed the fine river Pehonor, which he calls the Pulisangi, by a stone bridge of twenty-four arches and three hundred feet in length, which was then without parallel in the world. Thirty miles further on he came to the town of Tsochu, where a large trade in sandalwood is carried on. At ten days' journey from hence he came to the modern town of Tayenfu, which was once the seat of an independent government. All the province of Shanxi seemed rich in vines and mulberry trees. The principal industry in the towns was the making of armour for the emperor's use.

Seven days' journey further on they came to the beautiful commercial city of Pianfu, now called Pinyangfu, where the manufacture of silk was carried on. He soon afterwards came to the banks of the Yellow River, which he calls Karamoran, or Black River, probably on account of its waters being darkened by the aquatic plants growing in them. At two days' journey from hence he came to the town of Kakianfu, whose position is not now clearly defined. He found nothing remarkable in this town, and leaving it, he rode across a beautiful country, covered with towns, country houses and gardens, and abounding in game.

In eight days he reached the fine city of Kwangyanfu, the ancient capital of the Tang dynasty, now called Signanfu, and the capital of Shenzi. Here reigned Prince Mangalei, the emperor's son, an upright and amiable prince, much loved by his people. He lived in a magnificent palace outside the town, built in the midst of a park, of which the battle-minted wall cannot have been less than five miles in circumference.

From Signanfu, the traveller went towards Tibet, across the modern province of Su-Chuan, a mountainous country intersected by deep valleys, where lions, bears, lynxes, etc. are bounded. And after 28 days' march, he found himself on the borders of the Great Plain of Ak-Melik-Manghi. This is a fertile country and produces all kinds of vegetation. Ginger is especially cultivated. There is sufficient to supply all the province of Cathay, and so fertile is the soil that, according to a French traveller M. E. Simon, an acre is now worth 15,000 francs or 3 francs the meter. In the thirteenth century, this plain was covered with towns and country houses, and the inhabitants lived upon the fruits of the ground and the produce of their flocks and herds, while the large quantity of game furnished hunters with abundant occupation.

Marco Polo next visited the town of Sindafu, now Cingtufu, the capital of the province of Seichuan, whose population at the present day exceeds 1,500,000 souls. Sindafu, measuring at that time 20 miles round, was divided into three parts, each surrounded with its own wall, and each part had a king of its own before Kublaï-Khan took possession of the town. The great river Qiang ran through the town. It contained large quantities of fish, and from its size resembled a sea more than a river. Its waters were covered by a vast number of vessels. Five days after leaving this busy, thriving town, Marco Polo reached the province of Tibet, which, he says, is very desolate, for it has been destroyed by the war. Tibet abounds in lions, bears and other savage animals, from which the travellers would have much difficulty in defending themselves, had it not been for the quantity of large thick canes that grow there, which are probably bamboos, he says. The merchants and travellers passing through these countries at night collect a quantity of these canes and make a large fire of them, for when they are burning they make such a noise and crackle so much that the lions, bears and other wild beasts take flight to a distance and would not approach these fires on any account. Thus both men, horses and camels are safe. In another way, too, protection is afforded by throwing a number of these canes on a wood fire, and when they become heated and split, and the sap hisses, the sound is heard at least ten miles off. When anyone is not accustomed to this noise, it is so terrifying that even the horses will break away from their cords and tethers, so their owners often bandage their eyes and tie their feet together to prevent their running away. This method of burning canes is still used in countries where the bamboo grows, and indeed the noise may be compared to the loudest explosion of fireworks.