of different matters in the countries which he visited, in order to be able to tell about them to the Great Kaan.2

NOTE 1. The word Emperor stands here for Seigneur.

What the four characters acquired by Marco were is open to discussion. The Chronicle of the Mongol Emperors rendered by Gaubil mentions, as characters used in their Empire, the Uíghúr, the Persian and Arabic, that of the Lamas (Tibetan), that of the Nyuché, introduced by the Kin Dynasty, the Khitán, and the Báshpah character, a syllabic alphabet arranged, on the basis of the Tibetan and Sanskrit letters chiefly, by a learned chief Lama so-called, under the orders of Kublai, and established by edict in 1269 as the official character. Coins bearing this character, and dating from 1308 to 1354, are extant. The forms of the Nyuché and Khitan were devised in imitation of Chinese writing, but are supposed to be syllabic. Of the Khitan but one inscription is known, and no key.

Chinghiz and his first successors used the Uighur, and sometimes the Chinese character. Of the Uighur character we give a specimen in Book IV. It is of Syriac origin, undoubtedly introduced into Eastern Turkestan by the early Nestorian missions, probably in the 8th or 9th century. The oldest known example of this character so applied, the Kudatku Bilik, a didactic poem in Uighur (a branch of Oriental Turkish), dating from A.D. 1069, was published by Prof. Vámbéry in 1870. Vámbéry had a pleasing illustration of the origin of the Uighur character, when he received a visit at Pesth from certain Nestorians of Urumia on a begging tour. On being shown the original MS. of the Kudatku Bilik, they read the character easily, whilst much to their astonishment they could not understand a word of what was written. This Uighur is the basis of the modern Mongol and Manchu characters.

On a remarkable Buddhist monument of the Mongol age (A.D. 1345), of which a cut is given at the end of this volume, at the pass of Nankau, 40 miles from Peking, there is a long invocation inscribed in the Sanskrit, Tibetan, Báshpah, Uighur, Nyuché, and Chinese characters. Mr. Wylie's kindness enables me to present a specimen of this. (And see his papers in J. R. A. S. vol. xvii. p. 331 and N. s. vol. v. p. 14.)

The orders of the Great Kaan are stated to have been published habitually in six languages, viz., Mongol, Uighur, Arabic, Persian, Tangutan (probably Tibetan), and Chinese.

Ghazan Khan of Persia is said to have understood Mongol, Arabic, Persian, something of Kashmiri, of Tibetan, of Chinese, and a little of the Frank tongue (probably French).

The annals of the Ming Dynasty, which succeeded the Mongols in China, mention the establishment in 1407 of a linguistic office for diplomatic purposes. The languages to be studied were Nyuché, Mongol, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Bokharan (Persian ?), Uighur, Burmese, and Siamese.

To these were added by the Manchu dynasty two languages called Papeh and Pehyih, both Shan dialects of the S.W. frontier-see infra, Bk. II. ch. lvi.-lvii., and notes. (Gaubil, p. 148; Gold. Horde, 184; Ilchan. II. 147; Lockhart in J. R. G. S., XXXVI. 152; Koeppen, II. 99.)

Pauthier supposes Mark's four acquisitions to have been BáshpahMongol, Arabic, Uighur, and Chinese. I entirely reject the Chinese. We shall see no reason to believe that he knew either language or character. The other three seem highly probable. The fourth may have been Tibetan. But it is more likely that he counted separately two varieties of the same character (e.g. of the Arabic and Persian) as two “lettres de leur escriptures."

NOTE 2. From the context no doubt Marco's employments were honourable and confidential; but Commissioner would perhaps better express them than Ambassador in the modern sense. The word Ilchi, which was probably in his mind, was applied to a large variety of classes employed on the commissions of Government, as we may see from a passage of Rashiduddin in D'Ohsson, which says that "there were always to be found in every city from one to two hundred Ilchis, who forced the citizens to furnish them with free quarters," &c. III. 404 (see also 485).

CHAPTER XVI. .

HOW MARK RETURNED FROM THE MISSION WHEREON HE HAD BEEN SENT.

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 17 years, continually going and coming, hither and thither, on the missions that were entrusted to him

Part of a polyglot Inscription of the Mongol Era, on the Archway at
Keuyung-kwan, N.W. of Peking, reduced from Rubbings taken by

N.B. The original Inscription is given in Sanskrit and Tibetan

as well as in these four characters,

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 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 enquire into everything, in order to have matter to relate to the Lord.

CHAPTER XVI I.

HOW MESSER NICOLO, MESSER MAFFEO, AND MESSER MARCO, ASKED LEAVE OF THE GREAT KAAN TO GO THEIR WAY.

WHEN the Two Brothers and Mark had abode with the Lord all that time that you have been told [having meanwhile acquired great wealth in jewels and gold], they began among themselves to have thoughts about returning to their own country; and indeed it was time. [For, to say nothing of the length and infinite perils of the way, when they considered the Kaan's great age, they doubted whether, in the event of his death before their departure, they would ever be able to get home.'] They applied to him several