I.]

POPE GREGORY X.

II

with them, and went straight back to Acre, where they found the Legate of whom we have spoken. They had a good deal of discourse with him concerning the matter, and asked his permission to go to Jerusalem to get some Oil from the Lamp on the Sepulchre, to carry with them to the Great Kaan, as he had enjoined. The Legate giving them leave, they went from Acre to Jerusalem and got some of the Oil, and then returned to Acre, and went to the Legate and said to him: "As we see no sign of a Pope's being made, we desire to return to the Great Kaan; for we have already tarried long, and there has been more than enough delay." To which the Legate replied: "Since 'tis your wish to go back, I am well content." Wherefore he caused letters to be written for delivery to the Great Kaan, bearing testimony that the Two Brothers had come in all good faith to accomplish his charge, but that as there was no Pope they had been unable to do so.

Armed with these, the Polos started on their return; but they had not gone far when they were overjoyed to learn that their good friend, Archdeacon Tebaldo, had been chosen Pope. The news was sent after them, and they went back to Acre,- where Tebaldo, afterwards known as Pope Gregory X., received them graciously; but he could supply them with only two priestly teachers, and these afterwards became so alarmed by the dangers of the way that they drew back. It is related that the Great Khan, in consequence of this failure to supply him with Christian teachers, resorted to Tibet, where he found holy men who brought for his unruly subjects instruction in the religion of Buddha.

CHAPTER II.

YOUNG MARCO AT THE COURT OF KUBLAI KHAN-THE GREAT KHAN'S CONDESCENSION TO THE YOUNG TRAVELLER—THE MANNER OF THE RETURN OF THE POLOS-HOW MESSER MARCO POLO WAS CAPTURED BY THE GENOESE, AND HOW HE WROTE HIS FAMOUS BOOK OF TRAVELS.

M

ARCO and his father and uncle were very

cordially received when they reached the court of the Great Khan, which was then established at the imperial summer residence among the hills to the north of Cambaluc, or Peking. The palace was a vast group of buildings, and was known as the City of Peace, or Chandu: its other names were Kemenfu, Kaiminfu, and Kaipingfu. Here is young Marco's own account of the reception which the three Venetians had in the City of Peace:

And what shall I tell you? When the Two Brothers and Mark had arrived at that great city, they went to the Imperial Palace, and there they found the Sovereign attended by a great company of Barons. So they bent the knee before him, and paid their respects to him with all possible reverence, prostrating themselves on the ground. Then the Lord bade them stand up, and treated them

I'

Ch. II.]

MARCO, THE LINGUIST.

13

with great honour, showing great pleasure at their coming, and asked many questions as to their welfare and how they had sped. They replied that they had in verity sped well, seeing they had found the Kaan well and safe. Then they presented the credentials and letters which they had received from the Pope, which pleased him right well; and after that they produced the Oil from the Sepulchre, and at that also he was very glad, for he set great store thereby. And next, spying Mark, who was then a young gallant, he asked who was that in their company? "Sire," said his father, Messer Nicolo, "tis my son and your liegeman." "Welcome is he too," quoth the Emperor. There was great rejoicing at the Court because of their arrival; and they met with attention and honour from everybody. So they abode at the Court with the other Barons.

Now it came to pass that Marco, the son of Messer Nicolo, sped wondrously in learning the customs of the Tartars as well as their language, their manner of writing, and their practice of war; in fact, he came in brief space to know several languages and four sundry written characters. And he was discreet and prudent in every way, insomuch that the Emperor held him in great esteem. And so when he discerned Mark to have so much sense, and to conduct himself so well and beseemingly, he sent him on an ambassage of his, to a country which was a good six months' journey distant. The young gallant executed his commission well and with discretion. Now he had taken note on several occasions that when the Prince's ambassadors returned from different parts of the world they were able to tell him about nothing except the business on which they had gone, and that the Prince in consequence held them for no better than fools and dolts, and would say, I had far liever hearken about the strange things, and the manners of the different countries you have seen, than merely be told of the business you went upon"; for he took great

delight in hearing of the affairs of strange countries. Mark, therefore, as he went and returned, took great pains to learn about all kinds of different matters in the countries which he visited, in order to be able to tell about them to the Great Kaan.

When Mark returned from his ambassage, he presented himself before the Emperor; and after making his report of the business with which he was charged, and its successful accomplishment, he went on to give an account, in a pleasant and intelligent manner, of all the novelties and strange things that he had seen and heard; insomuch that the Emperor and all such as heard his story were surprised, and said: "If this young man live, he will assuredly come to be a person of great worth and ability.” And so from that time forward he was always entitled MESSER MARCO POLO, and thus we shall style him henceforth in this Book of ours, as is but right.

Thereafter Messer Marco abode in the Kaan's employment some seventeen years, continually going and coming, hither and thither, on the missions that were entrusted to him by the Lord, and sometimes, with the permission and authority of the Great Kaan, on his own private affairs. And as he knew all the Sovereign's ways, like a sensible man he always took much pains to gather knowledge of anything that would be likely to interest him, and then on his return to Court he would relate everything in regular order, and thus the Emperor came to hold him in great love and favour. And for this reason also he would employ him the oftener on the most weighty and most distant of his missions. These Messer Marco ever carried out with discretion and success, God be thanked. So the Emperor became ever more partial to him, and treated him with the greater distinction, and kept him so close to his person that some of the Barons waxed very envious thereat. And thus it came about that Messer Marco Polo had

II.]

MARCO, THE EXPLORER.

15

knowledge of, or had actually visited, a greater number of the different countries of the World than any other man ; the more that he was always giving his mind to get knowledge, and to spy out and inquire into everything, in order to have matter to relate to the Lord.

It is pleasant to think of this bright young stranger in the court of Kublai Khan, winning friends for himself by his zeal in acquiring knowledge of the peoples and countries subject to the sway of the Khan. By his intelligence and agreeable manners he was able to command the means to explore countries which, even to this day, are very imperfectly understood by the rest of the world. Within the memory of men now living, European travellers have explored, for the first time since Marco Polo's visits, the Pamir steppes, other portions of Mongolia, Tibet, and some of the south-western provinces of China.

He was the first traveller to trace a route across the whole length of Asia, says one of his biographers, "describing kingdom after kingdom that he had seen with his own eyes." He was the first traveller to explore the deserts and the flowering plains of Persia, to reveal China with its mighty rivers, its swarming population, and its huge cities and rich manufactures; the first to visit and bring back accounts of Tibet, Laos, Burmah, Siam, Cochin China, Japan, the Indian Archipelago, Ceylon, Farther India,