it so improbable that they treated the whole narrative as a fiction. The extent and wealth of Cathay, the splendor of its court, the number of its cities, the beauty of its manufactures, the order of its government, all faithfully described by the author, were read with a smile of incredulity; nor was it till a much later period, when the country was visited by other Europeans, that justice was done to his veracity. In fact, full justice was never rendered to this illustrious traveler until the year 1818, when the learned Mr. William Marsden published his translation and edition, under the title of "The Travels of Marco Polo, a Venetian, in the thirteenth century; being a Description, by that Early Traveler, of Remarkable Places and Things in the Eastern Part of the World." This quarto volume of 860 pages contains the results of many years of labor devoted to the task of substantiating the authority of the old traveler. The comments, notes and dissertations are hardly to be numbered, and they are as valuable as they are numerous. Other travelers and navigators of all ages and of all nations are quoted wherever they describe the countries or places visited by Marco; and from the mass of evidence thus collected, Mr. Marsden has established, beyond the reach of rational doubt, that the long-calumniated Venetian is in the main most remarkably veracious and correct in his descriptions. Of these descriptions a very large portion relate exclusively to China and its dependencies.

But to resume the subject of our history. When the Polos set out on their return to China, they had with them two preaching friars, deputed as missionaries by Pope Gregory X., who also sent letters to the khan;

but some of the states of Syria, through which the travelers had to pass, were in a state of warfare, and the friars were, from untoward circumstances, prevented from proceeding, while the Polos, after encountering many difficulties and dangers, safely reached their destination. This was about the time when the Crusades were drawing to a close, and the year in which the three Italians arrived at the court of Kublai Khan was A. D. 1274, the same in which Edward I. returned to England from the Holy Land.

They found Kublai Khan at Yen-king, near Kambalu, or Peking, in the midst of his court and great officers of state. They performed the ko-tau or nine prostrations, as they are now practiced in the Chinese court; and Marco's father and uncle, then rising, related in perspicuous language all that they had done since their departure, and all that had happened to them, the khan listening with attentive silence. The letters and presents of the pope were next laid before the tolerant Tartar conqueror, who, it is said, received with peculiar reverence some oil from the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem.

The emperor testified much delight at the return of his former visitors, and was so much pleased with young Marco that he conferred on him a high post at the court, and employed him on missions to various parts of the empire. Marco had therefore sufficient opportunities of observing the state of the country as well as the manners of the court. He tells us himself that he was held. in high estimation and respect by all belonging to the court, and that he learned in a short time and adopted the manners of the Tartars, and acquired a proficiency in

four different languages, which he became qualified to read and write.

The cities were, at this period, thronged with industrious artizans, who commonly worked at their own homes, and sold the produce of their labor to the wealthy merchants, who traded principally to India; from which country the manufactures and produce of China were conveyed to Alexandria, and from that port were transported to Venice, where they were all received under the general name of Indian goods; and thus the Chinese were for a long time considered the same people as the Indians, and their country was supposed to be the most remote part of India.

Among the many improvements made by Kublai Khan during his beneficent reign was the establishment of inns or post-houses, commencing from the capital and continued at intervals of about thirty-six miles to all the principal places in the empire, and at these stations relays of horses were always kept in readiness for the emperor's messengers, who were there also furnished with the requisite food and lodging. There were also ferry-boats at convenient stations to carry them across the rivers and lakes without delay, so that in case of need a messenger could travel two hundred miles in the twentyfour hours; and by these means fine fruits and other luxuries for the court and rich citizens were often conveyed from the most distant provinces to Peking-an advantage which that city would not so readily have enjoyed otherwise, since it stands in a cold and barren plain, and depends for its supplies on the more fertile districts of the south.

These supplies were, as now, obtained by the generality

of the inhabitants by means of the Great Canal, which was constantly covered with barges laden chiefly with grain. A great number of these barges were employed between the different provinces and the capital in conveying the tribute, out of which, when the harvest was abundant, the emperor laid up in his granaries stores of rice and corn, which in years of scarcity he sold to the poor at a cheap rate. Although, therefore, the taxes were heavy, the people derived benefit from them when they stood most in need of assistance, and they were always remitted, or at least much lightened, in a season of public calamity. Everything, indeed, appears to have been done by this beneficent prince that could tend to increase the prosperity and happiness of his subjects, who seem to have enjoyed, under his paternal government, the blessings of peace in their fullest extent.

Among the first things which struck Marco Polo were the orderly air of the people, the strictness of the police, the populousness of the superior cities, the extent and usefulness of the Grand Canal, and the immense number of bridges in all parts of the empire where rivers ran or canals were dug. In describing "the noble and magnificent city of Kin-sai," then the capital of Southern China, which is traversed by a river and many canals, he says: "It is commonly reported here that the number of bridges of all sizes amounts to twelve thousand." He adds: "Those which are thrown over the principal canals, and are connected with the main streets, have arches so high, and built with so much skill, that the vessels of the country can pass under them without lowering their masts, whilst at the same time carts and horses are passing over their heads, so well is the slope

from the street adapted to the height of the arch. In fact, as the river or the canals run everywhere, if the bridges were not so numerous there would be no convenience of crossing from one place to another."

In all the cities good order was preserved, and no one was allowed to be abroad after dark, except on urgent business, when he was required to carry a lantern-a regulation which prevented robberies or disturbances in the streets at night. In the centre of the capital there was an enormous bell, suspended in a lofty building, so placed that it could be heard all over the city; and this was tolled every evening at a certain hour, as a signal for all persons to retire to their homes; as the curfew, in olden times, was rung at eve, to warn the people of England that it was time to extinguish the cheerful blaze and betake themselves to repose.

As soon as Kublai had completed the conquest of China, he sent an ambassador to the sovereign of the Japan islands, who was an independent prince, ruling over a numerous and not uncivilized people. The object of this embassy was to demand submission and tribute of the Japanese monarch as a vassal of the Chinese empire; and when the indignant chief refused to comply with so unjust a requisition, the emperor declared war against him, and sent out a large fleet in the hope of making another important conquest.

The Japanese, however, made a successful resistance; and by the help of a storm, which destroyed the greater part of the Tartar fleet, they were fortunate enough to preserve that independence which they have maintained to this day..

The Tartar conquest produced no alteration in the