He Had Not Then Thought Of Connecting This
Name With Chinghin-Talas, And Has Therefore No Information As To Its
Origin Or The Extent Of Its Application.
But he remarks that Polo's
bearing of between north and north-west, if understood to be from Kamul,
would point exactly to Kobdo.
He also calls attention to the Lake
Sankin-dalai, to the north-east of Uliasut'ai, of which Atkinson gives a
sketch. The recurrence of this name over so wide a tract may have
something to do with the Chinghin-talas of Polo. But we must still wait
for further light.[1]
["Supposing that M. Polo mentions this place on his way from Sha-chow to
Su-chow, it is natural to think that it is Chi-kin-talas, i.e. 'Chi-kin
plain' or valley; Chi-kin was the name of a lake, called so even now, and
of a defile, which received its name from the lake. The latter is on the
way from Kia-yue kwan to Ansi chow." (Palladius, l.c. p. 7.) "Chikin,
or more correctly Chigin, is a Mongol word meaning 'ear.'" (Ibid.)
Palladius (p. 8) adds: "The Chinese accounts of Chi-kin are not in
contradiction to the statements given by M. Polo regarding the same
subject; but when the distances are taken into consideration, a serious
difficulty arises; Chi-kin is two hundred and fifty or sixty li distant
from Su-chow, whilst, according to M. Polo's statement, ten days are
necessary to cross this distance.
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