Chapter XLVIII: Concerning the Province of Carajan

When you have passed that River you enter on the province of CARAJAN, which is so large that it includes seven kingdoms. It lies towards the west; the people are Idolaters, and they are subject to the Great Kaan. A son of his, however, is there as King of the country, by name ESSENTIMUR; a very great and rich and puissant Prince; and he well and justly rules his dominion, for he is a wise man, and a valiant.

After leaving the river that I spoke of, you go five days’ journey towards the west, meeting with numerous towns and villages. The country is one in which excellent horses are bred, and the people live by cattle and agriculture. They have a language of their own which is passing hard to understand. At the end of those five days’ journey you come to the capital, which is called YACHI, a very great and noble city, in which are numerous merchants and craftsmen.{1}

The people are of sundry kinds, for there are not only Saracens and Idolaters, but also a few Nestorian Christians.{2} They have wheat and rice in plenty. Howbeit they never eat wheaten bread, because in that country it is unwholesome.{3} Rice they eat, and make of it sundry messes, besides a kind of drink which is very clear and good, and makes a man drunk just as wine does.

Their money is such as I will tell you. They use for the purpose certain white porcelain shells that are found in the sea, such as are sometimes put on dogs’ collars; and 80 of these porcelain shells pass for a single weight of silver, equivalent to two Venice groats, _i.e._ 24 piccoli. Also eight such weights of silver count equal to one such weight of gold.{4}

They have brine-wells in this country from which they make salt, and all the people of those parts make a living by this salt. The King, too, I can assure you, gets a great revenue from this salt.{5}

There is a lake in this country of a good hundred miles in compass, in which are found great quantities of the best fish in the world; fish of great size, and of all sorts.

They reckon it no matter for a man to have intimacy with another’s wife, provided the woman be willing.

Let me tell you also that the people of that country eat their meat raw, whether it be of mutton, beef, buffalo, poultry, or any other kind. Thus the poor people will go to the shambles, and take the raw liver as it comes from the carcase and cut it small, and put it in a sauce of garlic and spices, and so eat it; and other meat in like manner, raw, just as we eat meat that is dressed.{6}

Now I will tell you about a further part of the Province of Carajan, of which I have been speaking.

NOTE 1.—We have now arrived at the great province of CARAJAN,
the KARÁJÁNG of the Mongols, which we know to be YUN-NAN, and
at its capital YACHI, which—I was about to add—we know to be
YUN-NAN-FU. But I find all the commentators make it something
else. Rashiduddin, however, in his detail of the twelve Sings or
provincial governments of China under the Mongols, thus speaks:
“10th, KARÁJÁNG. This used to be an independent kingdom, and the
Sing is established at the great city of YÁCHI. All the inhabitants
are Mahomedans. The chiefs are Noyan Takin, and Yaḳub Beg, son
of ’Ali Beg, the Belúch.” And turning to Pauthier’s corrected
account of the same distribution of the empire from authentic
Chinese sources (p. 334), we find: “8. The administrative province
of Yun-nan.... Its capital, chief town also of the canton of the
same name, was called _Chung-khing_, now YUN-NAN-FU.” Hence Yachi
was Yun-nan-fu. This is still a large city, having a rectangular
rampart with 6 gates, and a circuit of about 6½ miles. The suburbs
were destroyed by the Mahomedan rebels. The most important trade
there now is in the metallic produce of the Province. [According to
_Oxenham, Historical Atlas_, there were _ten_ provinces or _sheng_
(Liao-yang, Chung-shu, Shen-si, Ho-nan, Sze-ch’wan, _Yun-nan_,
Hu-kwang, Kiang-che, Kiang-si and Kan-suh) and _twelve_ military
governorships.—H. C.]

_Yachi_ was perhaps an ancient corruption of the name _Yichau_,
which the territory bore (according to Martini and Biot) under the
Han; but more probably _Yichau_ was a Chinese transformation of the
real name _Yachi_. The Shans still call the city Muang _Chi_, which
is perhaps another modification of the same name.

We have thus got Ch’êng-tu fu as one fixed point, and Yun-nan-fu as
another, and we have to track the traveller’s itinerary between the
two, through what Ritter called with reason a _terra incognita_.
What little was known till recently of this region came from the
Catholic missionaries. Of late the veil has begun to be lifted;
the daring excursion of Francis Garnier and his party in 1868
intersected the tract towards the south; Mr. T. T. Cooper crossed
it further north, by Ta-t’sien lu, Lithang and Bathang; Baron v.
Richthofen in 1872 had penetrated several marches towards the heart
of the mystery, when an unfortunate mishap compelled his return,
but he brought back with him much precious information.

Five days forward from Ch’êng-tu fu brought us on Tibetan ground.
Five days backward from Yun-nan fu should bring us to the river
Brius, with its gold-dust and the frontier of Caindu. Wanting a
local scale for a distance of five days, I find that our next point
in advance, Marco’s city of Carajan undisputably _Tali-fu_, is
said by him to be ten days from Yachi. The direct distance between
the cities of Yun-nan and Ta-li I find by measurement on Keith
Johnston’s map to be 133 Italian miles. [The distance by road is
215 English miles. (See _Baber_, p. 191.)—H. C.] Taking half this
as radius, the compasses swept from Yun-nan-fu as centre, intersect
near its most southerly elbow the great upper branch of the Kiang,
the _Kin-sha Kiang_ of the Chinese, or “River of the Golden
Sands,” the MURUS USSU and BRICHU of the Mongols and Tibetans, and
manifestly the auriferous BRIUS of our traveller.[1] Hence also the
country north of this elbow is CAINDU.

“=Je voz di q’il ont un lac qe gire environ bien cent miles.=”]

I leave the preceding paragraph as it stood in the first edition,
because it shows how _near_ the true position of Caindu these
unaided deductions from our author’s data had carried me. That
paragraph was followed by an erroneous hypothesis as to the
intermediate part of that journey, but, thanks to the new light
shed by Baron Richthofen, we are enabled now to lay down the whole
itinerary from Ch’êng-tu fu to Yun-nan fu with confidence in its
accuracy.

The Kin-sha Kiang or Upper course of the Great Yang-tzŭ, descending
from Tibet to Yun-nan, forms the great bight or elbow to which
allusion has just been made, and which has been a feature known to
geographers ever since the publication of D’Anville’s atlas. The
tract enclosed in this elbow is cut in two by another great Tibetan
River, the Yarlung, or Yalung-Kiang, which joins the Kin-sha not
far from the middle of the great bight; and this Yalung, just
before the confluence, receives on the left a stream of inferior
calibre, the Ngan-ning Ho, which also flows in a valley parallel
to the meridian, like all that singular _fascis_ of great rivers
between Assam and Sze-ch’wan.

This River Ngan-ning waters a valley called Kien-ch’ang, containing
near its northern end a city known by the same name, but in our
modern maps marked as Ning-yuan fu; this last being the name
of a department of which it is the capital, and which embraces
much more than the valley of Kien-ch’ang. The town appears,
however, as Kien-ch’ang in the _Atlas Sinensis_ of Martini,
and as _Kienchang-ouei_ in D’Anville. This remarkable valley,
imbedded as it were in a wilderness of rugged highlands and wild
races, accessible only by two or three long and difficult routes,
rejoices in a warm climate, a most productive soil, scenery that
seems to excite enthusiasm even in Chinamen, and a population
noted for amiable temper. Towns and villages are numerous. The
people are said to be descended from Chinese immigrants, but their
features have little of the Chinese type, and they have probably
a large infusion of aboriginal blood. [Kien-ch’ang, “otherwise
the Prefecture of Ning-yuan, is perhaps the least known of the
Eighteen Provinces,” writes Mr. Baber. (_Travels_, p. 58.) “Two
or three sentences in the book of Ser Marco, to the effect that
after crossing high mountains, he reached a fertile country
containing many towns and villages, and inhabited by a very
immoral population, constitute to this day the only description we
possess of _Cain-du_, as he calls the district.” Baber adds (p.
82): “Although the main valley of Kien-ch’ang is now principally
inhabited by Chinese, yet the Sifan or Menia people are frequently
met with, and most of the villages possess two names, one Chinese,
and the other indigenous. Probably in Marco Polo’s time a Menia
population predominated, and the valley was regarded as part of
Menia. If Marco had heard that name, he would certainly have
recorded it; but it is not one which is likely to reach the ears of
a stranger. The Chinese people and officials never employ it, but
use in its stead an alternative name, _Chan-tu_ or _Chan-tui_, of
precisely the same application, which I make bold to offer as the
original of Marco’s Caindu, or preferably Ciandu.”—H. C.]

This valley is bounded on the east by the mountain country of the
Lolos, which extends north nearly to Yachau (_supra_, pp. 45, 48,
60), and which, owing to the fierce intractable character of the
race, forms throughout its whole length an impenetrable barrier
between East and West. [The Rev. Gray Owen, of Ch’êng-tu, wrote
(_Jour. China B. R. A. S._ xxviii. 1893–1894, p. 59): “The only
great trade route infested by brigands is that from Ya-chau to
Ning-yuan fu, where Lo-lo brigands are numerous, especially in the
autumn. Last year I heard of a convoy of 18 mules with Shen-si
goods on the above-mentioned road captured by these brigands,
muleteers and all taken inside the Lo-lo country. It is very seldom
that captives get out of Lo-lo-dom, because the ransom asked is too
high, and the Chinese officials are not gallant enough to buy out
their unfortunate countrymen. The Lo-los hold thousands of Chinese
in slavery; and more are added yearly to the number.”—H. C.] Two
routes run from Ch’êng-tu fu to Yun-nan; these fork at Ya-chau and
thenceforward are entirely separated by this barrier. To the east
of it is the route which descends the Min River to Siu-chau, and
then passes by Chao-tong and Tong-chuan to Yun-nan fu: to the west
of the barrier is a route leading through Kien-ch’ang to Ta-li fu,
but throwing off a branch from Ning-yuan southward in the direction
of Yun-nan fu.

This road from Ch’êng-tu fu to Ta-li by Ya-chau and Ning-yuan
appears to be that by which the greater part of the goods for Bhamó
and Ava used to travel before the recent Mahomedan rebellion; it
is almost certainly the road by which Kúblái, in 1253, during the
reign of his brother Mangku Kaan, advanced to the conquest of
Ta-li, then the head of an independent kingdom in Western Yun-nan.
As far as Ts’ing-k’i hien, 3 marches beyond Ya-chau, this route
coincides with the great Tibet road by Ta-t’sien lu and Bathang to
L’hása, and then it diverges to the left.

We may now say without hesitation that by this road Marco
travelled. His _Tibet_ commences with the mountain region near
Ya-chau; his 20 days’ journey through a devastated and dispeopled
tract is the journey to Ning-yuan fu. Even now, from Ts’ing-k’i
onwards for several days, not a single inhabited place is seen.
The official route from Ya-chau to Ning-yuan lays down 13 stages,
but it generally takes from 15 to 18 days. Polo, whose journeys
seem often to have been shorter than the modern average,[2] took
20. On descending from the highlands he comes once more into a
populated region, and enters the charming Valley of Kien-ch’ang.
This valley, with its capital near the upper extremity, its
numerous towns and villages, its cassia, its spiced wine, and
its termination southward on the River of the Golden Sands, is
CAINDU. The traveller’s road from Ningyuan to Yunnanfu probably lay
through Hwei-li, and the Kin-sha Kiang would be crossed as already
indicated, near its most southerly bend, and almost due north of
Yun-nan fu. (See _Richthofen_ as quoted at pp. 45–46.)

As regards the _name_ of CAINDU or GHEINDU (as in G. T.), I think
we may safely recognise in the last syllable the _do_ which is so
frequent a termination of Tibetan names (Amdo, Tsiamdo, etc.);
whilst the _Cain_, as Baron Richthofen has pointed out, probably
survives in the first part of the name _Kien_chang.

[Baber writes (pp. 80–81): “Colonel Yule sees in the word _Caindu_
a variation of ‘Chien-ch’ang,’ and supposes the syllable ‘du’ to
be the same as the termination ‘du,’ ‘do,’ or ‘tu,’ so frequent in
Tibetan names. In such names, however, ‘do’ never means a district,
but always a confluence, or a town near a confluence, as might
almost be guessed from a map of Tibet.... Unsatisfied with Colonel
Yule’s identification, I cast about for another, and thought
for a while that a clue had been found in the term ‘Chien-t’ou’
(sharp-head), applied to certain Lolo tribes. But the idea had to
be abandoned, since Marco Polo’s anecdote about the ‘caitiff,’ and
the loose manners of his family, could never have referred to the
Lolos, who are admitted even by their Chinese enemies to possess a
very strict code indeed of domestic regulations. The Lolos being
eliminated, the Si-fans remained; and before we had been many days
in their neighbourhood, stories were told us of their conduct which
a polite pen refuses to record. It is enough to say that Marco’s
account falls rather short of the truth, and most obviously applies
to the Si-fan.”

Devéria (_Front._ p. 146 note) says that Kien-ch’ang is the ancient
territory of Kiung-tu which, under the Han Dynasty, fell into the
hands of the Tibetans, and was made by the Mongols the march of
Kien-ch’ang (_Che-Kong-t’u_); it is the _Caindu_ of Marco Polo;
under the Han Dynasty it was the Kiun or division of Yueh-sui
or Yueh-hsi. Devéria quotes from the _Yuen-shi-lei pien_ the
following passage relating to the year 1284: “The twelve tribes
of the Barbarians to the south-west of _Kien-tou_ and _Kin-Chi_
submitted; Kien-tou was administered by Mien (Burma); Kien-tou
submits because the Kingdom of Mien has been vanquished.” Kien-tou
is the _Chien-t’ou_ of Baber, the Caindu of Marco Polo. (_Mélanges
de Harlez_, p. 97.) According to Mr. E. H. Parker (_China Review_,
xix. p. 69), Yueh-hsi or Yueh-sui “is the modern Kien-ch’ang
Valley, the Caindu of Marco Polo, between the Yalung and Yang-tzŭ
Rivers; the only non-Chinese races found there now are the Si-fan
and Lolos.”—H. C.]

(After Garnier.)]

Turning to minor particulars, the Lake of Caindu in which the
pearls were found is doubtless one lying near Ning-yuan, whose
beauty Richthofen heard greatly extolled, though nothing of the
pearls. [Mr. Hosie writes (_Three Years_, 112–113): “If the former
tradition be true (the old city of Ning-yuan having given place
to a large lake in the early years of the Ming Dynasty), the
lake had no existence when Marco Polo passed through Caindu, and
yet we find him mentioning a lake in the country in which pearls
were found. Curiously enough, although I had not then read the
Venetian’s narrative, one of the many things told me regarding the
lake was that pearls are found in it, and specimens were brought
to me for inspection.” The lake lies to the south-east of the
present city.—H. C.] A small lake is marked by D’Anville, close to
Kien-ch’ang, under the name of _Gechoui-tang_. The large quantities
of gold derived from the Kin-sha Kiang, and the abundance of musk
in that vicinity, are testified to by Martini. The Lake mentioned
by Polo as existing in the territory of Yachi is no doubt the
_Tien-chi_, the Great Lake on the shore of which the city of
Yun-nan stands, and from which boats make their way by canals along
the walls and streets. Its circumference, according to Martini, is
500 _li_. The cut (p. 68), from Garnier, shows this lake as seen
from a villa on its banks. [Devéria (p. 129) quotes this passage
from the _Yuen-shi-lei pien_: “Yachi, of which the _U-man_ or Black
Barbarians made their capital, is surrounded by Lake _Tien-chi_ on
three sides.” Tien-chi is one of the names of Lake Kwen-ming, on
the shore of which is built Yun-nan fu.—H. C.]

Returning now to the Karájang of the Mongols, or Carajan, as Polo
writes it, we shall find that the latter distinguishes this great
province, which formerly, he says, included seven kingdoms, into
two Mongol Governments, the seat of one being at Yachi, which we
have seen to be Yun-nan fu, and that of the other at a city to
which he gives the name of the Province, and which we shall find
to be the existing Ta-li fu. Great confusion has been created in
most of the editions by a distinction in the form of the name as
applied to these two governments. Thus Ramusio prints the province
under Yachi as _Carajan_, and that under Ta-li as _Carazan_, whilst
Marsden, following out his system for the conversion of Ramusio’s
orthography, makes the former _Karaian_ and the latter _Karazan_.
Pauthier prints _Caraian_ all through, a fact so far valuable as
showing that his texts make no distinction between the names of
the two governments, but the form impedes the recognition of the
old Mongol nomenclature. I have no doubt that the name all through
should be read _Carajan_, and on this I have acted. In the Geog.
Text we find the name given at the end of ch. xlvii. _Caragian_,
in ch. xlviii. as _Carajan_, in ch. xlix. as _Caraian_, thus
just reversing the distinction made by Marsden. The Crusca has
_Charagia(n)_ all through.

The name then was _Ḳará-jáng_, in which the first element was the
Mongol or Turki _Ḳárá_, “Black.” For we find in another passage of
Rashid the following information:[3]—“To the south-west of Cathay
is the country called by the Chinese _Dailiu_ or ‘Great Realm,’ and
by the Mongols _Ḳarájáng_, in the language of India and Kashmir
_Ḳandar_, and by us _Ḳandahár_. This country, which is of vast
extent, is bounded on one side by Tibet and Tangut, and on others
by Mongolia, Cathay, and the country of the Gold-Teeth. The King
of Ḳarajang uses the title of _Mahárá_, _i.e._ Great King. The
capital is called Yachi, and there the Council of Administration
is established. Among the inhabitants of this country some are
black, and others are white; these latter are called by the Mongols
_Chaghán-Jáng_ (‘White Jang’).” _Jang_ has not been explained;
but probably it may have been a Tibetan term adopted by the
Mongols, and the colours may have applied to their clothing. The
dominant race at the Mongol invasion seems to have been Shans;[4]
and black jackets are the characteristic dress of the Shans whom
one sees in Burma in modern times. The Kara-jang and Chaghan-jang
appear to correspond also to the _U-man_ and _Pe-man_, or Black
Barbarians and White Barbarians, who are mentioned by Chinese
authorities as conquered by the Mongols. It would seem from one of
Pauthier’s Chinese quotations (p. 388), that the Chaghan-jang were
found in the vicinity of Li-kiang fu. (_D’Ohsson_, II. 317; _J.
R. Geog. Soc._ III. 294.) [Dr. Bretschneider (_Med. Res._ I. p.
184) says that in the description of Yun-nan, in the _Yuen-shi_,
“_Cara-jang_ and _Chagan-jang_ are rendered by _Wu-man_ and
_Po-man_ (Black and White Barbarians). But in the biographies of
_Djao-a-k’o-p’an_, _A-r-szelan_ (_Yuen-shi_, ch. cxxiii.), and
others, these tribes are mentioned under the names of _Ha-la-djang_
and _Ch’a-han-djang_, as the Mongols used to call them; and in the
biography of _Wu-liang-ho t’ai_, [Uriang kadai], the conqueror of
Yun-nan, it is stated that the capital of the Black Barbarians was
called _Yach’i_. It is described there as a city surrounded by
lakes from three sides.”—H. C.]

“=Les sunt des plosors maineres, car il hi a jens qe aorent
Maomet.=”]

Regarding Rashiduddin’s application of the name _Ḳandahár_ or
Gandhára to Yun-nan, and curious points connected therewith, I must
refer to a paper of mine in the _J. R. A. Society_ (N.S. IV. 356).
But I may mention that in the ecclesiastical translation of the
classical localities of Indian Buddhism to Indo-China, which is
current in Burma, Yun-nan represents Gandhára,[5] and is still so
styled in state documents (_Gandálarít_).

What has been said of the supposed name _Caraian_ disposes, I
trust, of the fancies which have connected the origin of the
_Karens_ of Burma with it. More groundless still is M. Pauthier’s
deduction of the _Talains_ of Pegu (as the Burmese call them) from
the people of Ta-li, who fled from Kúblái’s invasion.

NOTE 2.—The existence of Nestorians in this remote province is
very notable [see _Bonin, J. As._ XV. 1900, pp. 589–590.—H. C.];
and also the early prevalence of Mahomedanism, which Rashiduddin
intimates in stronger terms. “All the inhabitants of Yachi,” he
says, “are Mahomedans.” This was no doubt an exaggeration, but the
Mahomedans seem always to have continued to be an important body in
Yun-nan up to our own day. In 1855 began their revolt against the
imperial authority, which for a time resulted in the establishment
of their independence in Western Yun-nan under a chief whom they
called Sultan Suleiman. A proclamation in remarkably good Arabic,
announcing the inauguration of his reign, appears to have been
circulated to Mahomedans in foreign states, and a copy of it some
years ago found its way through the Nepalese agent at L’hasa, into
the hands of Colonel Ramsay, the British Resident at Katmandu.[6]

NOTE 3.—Wheat grows as low as Ava, but there also it is not used by
natives for bread, only for confectionery and the like. The same
is the case in Eastern China. (See ch. xxvi. note 4, and _Middle
Kingdom_, II. 43.)

NOTE 4.—The word _piccoli_ is supplied, doubtfully, in lieu of
an unknown symbol. If correct, then we should read “24 piccoli
_each_,” for this was about the equivalent of a grosso. This is the
first time Polo mentions cowries, which he calls _porcellani_.
This might have been rendered by the corresponding vernacular name
“_Pig-shells_,” applied to certain shells of that genus (_Cypraea_)
in some parts of England. It is worthy of note that as the name
_porcellana_ has been transferred from these shells to China-ware,
so the word _pig_ has been in Scotland applied to crockery; whether
the process has been analogous, I cannot say.

Klaproth states that Yun-nan is the only country of China in
which cowries had continued in use, though in ancient times they
were more generally diffused. According to him 80 cowries were
equivalent to 6 _cash_, or a half-penny. About 1780 in Eastern
Bengal 80 cowries were worth ⅜th of a penny, and some 40 years ago,
when Prinsep compiled his tables in Calcutta (where cowries were
still in use a few years ago, if they are not now), 80 cowries were
worth ³⁄₁₀ of a penny.

At the time of the Mahomedan conquest of Bengal, early in the 13th
century, they found the currency exclusively composed of cowries,
aided perhaps by bullion in large transactions, but with no coined
money. In remote districts this continued to modern times. When
the Hon. Robert Lindsay went as Resident and Collector to Silhet
about 1778, cowries constituted nearly the whole currency of the
Province. The yearly revenue amounted to 250,000 rupees, and this
was entirely paid in cowries at the rate of 5120 to the rupee. It
required large warehouses to contain them, and when the year’s
collection was complete a large fleet of boats to transport them to
Dacca. Before Lindsay’s time it had been the custom to _count_ the
whole before embarking them! Down to 1801 the Silhet revenue was
entirely collected in cowries, but by 1813, the whole was realised
in specie. (_Thomas_, in _J. R. A. S._ N.S. II. 147; _Lives of the
Lindsays_, III. 169, 170.)

Klaproth’s statement has ceased to be correct. Lieutenant Garnier
found cowries nowhere in use north of Luang Prabang; and among
the Kakhyens in Western Yun-nan these shells are used only for
ornament. [However, Mr. E. H. Parker says (_China Review_, XXVI. p.
106) that the porcelain money still circulates in the Shan States,
and that he saw it there himself.—H. C.]

NOTE 5.—See ch. xlvii. note 4. Martini speaks of a great
brine-well to the N.E. of Yaogan (W.N.W. of the city of Yun-nan),
which supplied the whole country round.

NOTE 6.—Two particulars appearing in these latter paragraphs are
alluded to by Rashiduddin in giving a brief account of the overland
route from India to China, which is unfortunately very obscure:
“Thence you arrive at the borders of Tibet, where they _eat raw
meat_ and worship images, _and have no shame respecting their
wives_.” (_Elliot_, I. p. 73.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] [Baber writes (p. 107): “The river is never called locally by
any other name than _Kin-ho_, or ‘Gold River.’[A] The term
_Kin-sha-Kiang_ should in strictness be confined to the Tibetan
course of the stream; as applied to other parts it is a mere book
name. There is no great objection to its adoption, except that it
is unintelligible to the inhabitants of the banks, and is liable
to mislead travellers in search of indigenous information, but
at any rate it should not be supposed to asperse Marco Polo’s
accuracy. _Gold River_ is the local name from the junction of the
Yalung to about P’ing-shan; below P’ing-shan it is known by various
designations, but the Ssu-ch’uanese naturally call it ‘the River,’
or, by contrast with its affluents, the ‘Big River’ (_Ta-ho_).” I
imagine that Baber here makes a slight mistake, and that they use
the name _kiang_, and not _ho_, for the river.—H. C.]

[Mr. Rockhill remarks (_Land of the Lamas_, p. 196 note) that
“Marco Polo speaks of the Yang-tzŭ as the _Brius_, and Orazio
della Penna calls it _Biciu_, both words representing the Tibetan
_Dré ch’u_. This last name has been frequently translated ‘Cow
yak River,’ but this is certainly not its meaning, as cow yak is
_dri-mo_, never pronounced _dré_, and unintelligible without the
suffix, _mo_. _Dré_ may mean either mule, dirty, or rice, but as
I have never seen the word written, I cannot decide on any of
these terms, all of which have exactly the same pronunciation.
The Mongols call it _Murus osu_, and in books this is sometimes
changed to _Murui osu_, ‘Tortuous river.’ The Chinese call it
_Tung t’ien ho_, ‘River of all Heaven.’ The name _Kin-sha kiang_,
‘River of Golden Sand,’ is used for it from Bat’ang to Sui-fu, or
thereabouts.” The general name for the river is _Ta-Kiang_ (Great
River), or simply _Kiang_, in contradistinction to _Ho_, for
_Hwang-Ho_ (Yellow River) in Northern China.—H. C.]

[2] Baron Richthofen, who has travelled hundreds of miles in his
footsteps, considers his allowance of time to be generally from ¼
to ⅓ greater than that now usual.

[3] See _Quatremère’s Rashiduddin_, pp. lxxxvi.–xcvi. My quotation is
made up from _two_ citations by Quatremère, one from his text of
Rashiduddin, and the other from the History of Benaketi, which
Quatremère shows to have been drawn from Rashiduddin, whilst it
contains some particulars not existing in his own text of that
author.

[4] The title _Chao_ in _Nan-Chao_ (_infra_, p. 79) is said by a
Chinese author (Pauthier, p. 391) to signify _King_ in the language
of those barbarians. This is evidently the _Chao_ which forms an
essential part of the title of all Siamese and Shan princes.

[Regarding the word _Nan-Chao_, Mr. Parker (_China Review_, XX.
p. 339) writes “In the barbarian tongue ‘prince’ is _Chao_,” says
the Chinese author; and there were six _Chao_, of which the _Nan_
or Southern was the leading power. Hence the name Nan-Chao ... it
is hardly necessary for me to say that _chao_ or _kyiao_ is still
the Shan-Siamese word for ‘prince.’” Pallegoix (_Dict._ p. 85) has
_Chào_, Princeps, rex.—H. C.]

[5] _Gandhára_, Arabicé _Ḳandahár_, is properly the country about
Peshawar, _Gandaritis_ of Strabo.

[6] This is printed almost in full in the French _Voyage
d’Exploration_, I. 564.

---------------------------------------------------------------------- [A] Marco Polo nowhere calls the river “Gold River,” the name he gives it is _Brius_.—H. Y.