Of as Tun-o-Tabbas; and if it belonged, as I believe it
formerly did, to the Kain district, it would be spoken of as Tun-o-Kain,
exactly as Marco Polo does. Through Naiband is the shortest and best road
to either Tun or Kain." (Proc. Royal Geog. Soc., VIII., 1886, p. 144.)
Support to Yule's theory has been brought by Sven Hedin, who devotes a
chapter to Marco Polo in his Overland to India, II., 1910, Chap. XL.,
and discusses our traveller's route between Kuh-benan and Tabbas, pp. 71
seq.:
"As even Sykes, who travelled during several years through Persia in all
directions, cannot decide with full certainty whether Marco Polo travelled
by the western route through Tebbes or the eastern through Naibend, it is
easy to see how difficult it is to choose between the two roads. I cannot
cite the reasons Sir Henry Yule brings forward in favour of the western
route - it would take us too far. I will, instead, set forth the grounds of
my own conviction that Marco Polo used the direct caravan road between
Kuh-benan and Tebbes.
"The circumstance that the main road runs through Naibend is no proof, for
we find that Marco Polo, not only in Persia but also in Central Asia,
exhibited a sovereign contempt for all routes that might be called
convenient and secure.
