THE STORY OF Marco Polo BY NOAH BROOKS AUTHOR OF "AMERICAN STATESMEN," ""WASHINGTON PREFACE. THE story of Marco Polo and his companions is one of the most romantic and interesting of mediæval or of modern times. The manner of the return of the Polos long after they had been given up for dead, the subsequent adventures of Marco Polo, the incredulity with which his book of travels was received, the gradual and slow confirmation of the truth of his reports as later explorations penetrated the mysterious Orient, and the fact that he may be justly regarded as the founder of the geography of Asia, have all combined to give to his narrative a certain fascination, with which no other story of travel has been invested. At first read for pure amusement, Marco Polo's book eventually became an authoritative account of regions of the earth which were almost wholly unknown to Europe up to his time, and some portions of which even now remain unexplored by Western travellers. |