But I Apprehend From
The Manner In Which M. Pauthier Produces It, Without Corroborative
Quotation, That He Is Rather Hazarding A Conjecture Than Speaking With
Authority.
Be that as it may, it is impossible that Polo's Toloman or
Coloman should have been in the south of Kwangsi, where Pauthier locates
it.
On the other hand, we find tribes of both Kolo and Kihlau Barbarians
(i.e. Man, whence KOLO-MAN or Kihlau-man) very numerous on the
frontier of Kweichau. (See Bridgman's transl. of Tract on Meautsze, pp.
265, 269, 270, 272, 273, 274, 275, 278, 279, 280.) Among these the Kolo,
described as No. 38 in that Tract, appear to me from various particulars
to be the most probable representatives of the Coloman of Polo,
notwithstanding the sentence with which the description opens: "Kolo
originally called Luluh; the modern designation Kolo is incorrect."[1]
They are at present found in the prefecture of Tating (one of the
departments of Kweichau towards the Yun-nan side). "They are tall, of a
dark complexion, with sunken eyes, aquiline nose, wear long whiskers, and
have the beard shaved off above the mouth. They pay great deference to
demons, and on that account are sometimes called 'Dragons of Lo.' ... At
the present time these Kolo are divided into 48 clans, the elders of which
are called Chieftains (lit. 'Head-and-Eyes') and are of nine grades....
The men bind their hair into a tuft with blue cloth and make it fast on
the forehead like a horn. Their upper dresses are short, with large
sleeves, and their lower garments are fine blue. When one of the
chieftains dies, all that were under him are assembled together clad in
armour and on horseback. Having dressed his corpse in silk and woollen
robes, they burn it in the open country; then, invoking the departed
spirit, they inter the ashes. Their attachment to him as their sole master
is such that nothing can drive or tempt them from their allegiance. Their
large bows, long spears, and sharp swords, are strong and well-wrought.
They train excellent horses, love archery and hunting; and so expert are
they in tactics that their soldiers rank as the best among all the
uncivilized tribes. There is this proverb: 'The Lo Dragons of Shwui-si
rap the head and strike the tail,' which is intended to indicate their
celerity in defence." (Bridgman, pp. 272-273.)
The character Lo, here applied in the Chinese Tract to these people, is
the same as that in the name of the Kwangsi Lo of M. Pauthier.
I append a cut (opposite page) from the drawing representing these
Kolo-man in the original work from which Bridgman translated, and which is
in the possession of Dr. Lockhart.
[I believe we must read To-lo-man. Man, barbarian, T'u-lao or
Shan-tzu (mountaineers) who live in the Yunnanese prefectures of
Lin-ngan, Cheng-kiang, etc. T'u-la-Man or T'u-la barbarians of the Mongol
Annals.
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