Adhering to Homi as the
representative of Anin, and to the 8 days' journey of the text, the most
probable position of Koloman would be about Lo-ping which lies about 100
English miles in a straight line north-east from Homi. The first character
of the name here is again the same as the Lo of the Kolo tribes.
Beyond this point the difficulties of devising an interpretation,
consistent at once with facts and with the text as it stands, become
insuperable.
The narrative demands that from Koloman we should reach Fungul, a great
and noble city, by travelling 12 days along a river, and that Fungul
should be within twelve days' journey of Ch'eng-tu fu, along the same
river, or at least along rivers connected with it.
In advancing from the south-west guided by the data afforded by the texts,
we have not been able to carry the position of Fungul (Sinugul, or what
not of G.T. and other MSS.) further north than Phungan. But it is
impossible that Ch'eng-tu fu should have been reached in 12 days from this
point. Nor is it possible that a new post in a secluded position, like
Phungan, could have merited to be described as "a great and noble city."
Baron v. Richthofen has favoured me with a note in which he shows that in
reality the only place answering the more essential conditions of Fungul
is Siu-chau fu at the union of the two great branches of the Yang-tzu,
viz. the Kin-sha Kiang, and the Min-Kiang from Ch'eng-tu fu. (1) The
distance from Siu-chau to Ch'eng-tu by land travelling is just about 12
days, and the road is along a river. (2) In approaching "Fungul" from the
south Polo met with a good many towns and villages. This would be the case
along either of the navigable rivers that join the Yang-tzu below Siu-chau
(or along that which joins above Siu-chau, mentioned further on). (3) The
large trade in silk up and down the river is a characteristic that could
only apply to the Yang-tzu.
These reasons are very strong, though some little doubt must subsist until
we can explain the name (Fungul, or Sinugul) as applicable to Siu-chau.[2]
And assuming Siu-chau to be the city we must needs carry the position
of Coloman considerably further north than Lo-ping, and must presume the
interval between Anin and Coloman to be greatly understated, through
clerical or other error. With these assumptions we should place Polo's
Coloman in the vicinity of Wei-ning, one of the localities of Kolo tribes.
From a position near Wei-ning it would be quite possible to reach Siu-chau
in 12 days, making use of the facilities afforded by one or other of the
partially navigable rivers to which allusion has just been made.