The Province of Zardandan

CHAPTER 58. The Province of Coloman

Coloman is a province towards the east, the people of which are Idolaters and have a peculiar language, and are subject to the Great Kaan.

They are a tall and very handsome people, though in complexion brown rather than white, and are good soldiers.

They have a good many towns, and a vast number of villages, among great mountains, and in strong positions.

When any of them die, the bodies are burnt, and then they take the bones and put them in little chests.

These are carried high up the mountains, and placed in great caverns, where they are hung up in such wise that neither man nor beast can come at them.

A good deal of gold is found in the country, and for petty traffic they use porcelain shells such as I have told you of before.

All these provinces that I have been speaking of, to wit Bangala and Caugigu and Anin, employ for currency porcelain shells and gold.

There are merchants in this country who are very rich and dispose of large quantities of goods. The people live on flesh and rice and milk, and brew their wine from rice and excellent spices.

CHAPTER 59. The Province of Cuiju.

Cuiju is a province towards the East.

After leaving Coloman you travel along a river for 12 days, meeting with a good number of towns and villages, but nothing worthy of particular mention.

After you have travelled those twelve days along the river you come to a great and noble city which is called Fungul.

The people are Idolaters and subject to the Great Kaan, and live by trade and handicrafts.

They manufacture stuffs of the bark of certain trees which form very fine summer clothing.{2} They are good soldiers, and have paper-money.

For you must understand that henceforward we are in the countries where the Great Kaan’s paper-money is current.

The country swarms with lions to that degree that no man can venture to sleep outside his house at night.

Moreover, when you travel on that river, and come to a halt at night, unless you keep a good way from the bank the lions will spring on the boat and snatch one of the crew and make off with him and devour him.

But for a certain help that the inhabitants enjoy, no one could venture to travel in that province, because of the multitude of those lions, and because of their strength and ferocity.

They have in this province a large breed of dogs, so fierce and bold that two of them together will attack a lion.

So every man who goes a journey takes with him a couple of those dogs, and when a lion appears they have at him with the greatest boldness, and the lion turns on them, but can’t touch them for they are very deft at eschewing his blows.

So they follow him, perpetually giving tongue, and watching their chance to give him a bite in the rump or in the thigh, or wherever they may.

The lion makes no reprisal except now and then to turn fiercely on them, and then indeed were he to catch the dogs it would be all over with them, but they take good care that he shall not.

So, to escape the dogs’ din, the lion makes off, and gets into the wood, where mayhap he stands at bay against a tree to have his rear protected from their annoyance.

When the travellers see the lion in this plight they take to their bows, for they are capital archers, and shoot their arrows at him till he falls dead. And ’tis thus that travellers in those parts do deliver themselves from those lions.

They have a good deal of silk and other products which are carried up and down, by the river of which we spoke, into various quarters.{5}

You travel along the river for 12 days more, finding a good many towns all along.

The people always Idolaters, and subject to the Great Kaan, with paper-money current, and living by trade and handicrafts.

There are also plenty of fighting men.

You arrive at the city of Sindafu.

From Sindafu you set out again and travel some 70 days through the provinces and cities and towns which we have already visited, and all which have been already particularly spoken of in our Book. At the end of those 70 days you come to Juju where we were before.

From Juju you set out again and travel four days towards the south, finding many towns and villages.

The people are great traders and craftsmen, are all Idolaters, and use the paper-money of the Great Kaan their Sovereign. At the end of those four days you come to the city of Cacanfu belonging to the province of Cathay, and of it I shall now speak.