The Kingdom of Mosul

CHAPTER 41. The Province of Camul

Camul is a province which in former days was a kingdom. It contains numerous towns and villages, but the chief city bears the name of Camul.

The province lies between the two deserts; for on the one side is the 210Great Desert of Lop, and on the other side is a small desert of three days’ journey in extent.{1}

The people are all Idolaters, and have a peculiar language. They live by the fruits of the earth, which they have in plenty, and dispose of to travellers. They are a people who take things very easily, for they mind nothing but playing and singing, and dancing and enjoying themselves.{2}

And it is the truth that if a foreigner comes to the house of one of these people to lodge, the host is delighted, and desires his wife to put herself entirely at the guest’s disposal, whilst he himself gets out of the way, and comes back no more until the stranger shall have taken his departure.

The guest may stay and enjoy the wife’s society as long as he lists, whilst the husband has no shame in the matter, but indeed considers it an honour. And all the men of this province are made wittols of by their wives in this way.{3} The women themselves are fair and wanton.

Now it came to pass during the reign of Mangu Kaan, that as lord of this province he came to hear of this custom, and he sent forth an order commanding them under grievous penalties to do so no more [but to provide public hostelries for travellers]. And when they heard this order they were much vexed thereat.

For about three years’ space they carried it out. But then they found that their lands were no longer fruitful, and that many mishaps befell them.

So they collected together and prepared a grand present which they sent to their Lord, praying him graciously to let them retain the custom which they had inherited from their ancestors; for it was by reason of this usage that their gods bestowed upon them all the good things that they possessed, and without it they saw not how they could continue to exist.

When the Prince had heard their petition his reply was “Since ye must needs keep your shame, keep it then,” 211and so he left them at liberty to maintain their naughty custom. And they always have kept it up, and do so still.

Now let us quit Camul, and I will tell you of another province which lies between north-west and north, and belongs to the Great Kaan.

CHAPTER 42. The Province of Chingintalas

Chingintalas is also a province at the verge of the Desert, and lying between north-west and north. It has an extent of sixteen days’ journey, and belongs to the Great Kaan, and contains numerous towns and villages. There are three different races of people in it—Idolaters, Saracens, and some Nestorian Christians.{1}

At the northern extremity of this province there is a mountain in which are excellent veins of steel and ondanique.{2} And you must know that in the same mountain there is a 213vein of the substance from which Salamander is made.{3} For the real truth is that the Salamander is no beast, as they allege in our part of the world, but is a substance found in the earth; and I will tell you about it.

Everybody must be aware that it can be no animal’s nature to live in fire, seeing that every animal is composed of all the four elements.

I, Marco Polo, had a Turkish acquaintance of the name of Zurficar, and he was a very clever fellow.

This Turk related to Messer Marco Polo how he had lived three years in that region on behalf of the Great Kaan, in order to procure those Salamanders for him.

He said that the way they got them was by digging in that mountain till they found a certain vein. The substance of this vein was then taken and crushed, and when so treated it divides as it were into fibres of wool, which they set forth to dry. When dry, these fibres were pounded in a great copper mortar, and then washed, so as to remove all the earth and to leave only the fibres like fibres of wool. These were then spun, and made into napkins.

When first made these napkins are not very white, but by putting them into the fire for a while they come out as white as snow.

And so again whenever they become dirty they are bleached by being put in the fire.

Now this, and nought else, is the truth about the Salamander, and the people of the country all say the same. Any other account of the matter is fabulous nonsense.

I may add that they have at Rome a napkin of this stuff, which the Grand Kaan sent to the Pope to make a wrapper for the Holy Sudarium of Jesus Christ.

We will now quit this subject, and I will proceed with my account of the countries lying in the direction between north-east and east.

CHAPTER 43. The Province of Sukchur

On leaving the province of which I spoke before, you ride 10 days between north-east and east.

In all that way you find no human dwelling, or next to none, so that there is nothing for our book to speak of.

At the end of those ten days you come to another province called Sukchur, in which there are numerous towns and villages. The chief city is called Sukchu.

The people are partly Christians and partly Idolaters, and all are subject to the Great Kaan.

The great General Province to which all these three provinces belong is called Tangut.

Over all the mountains of this province rhubarb is found in great abundance, and thither merchants come to buy it, and carry it thence all over the world.

Travellers, however, dare not visit those mountains with any cattle but those of the country, for a certain plant grows there which is so poisonous that cattle which eat it lose their hoofs. The cattle of the country 218know it and eschew it.

The people live by agriculture, and have not much trade. [They are of a brown complexion. The whole of the province is healthy.]