Lord Curzon gives the following list of the "eight claimants to the
distinction and title of a Pamir": (1) Taghdumbash, or Supreme Head of the
Mountains Pamir, lying immediately below and to the north of the Kilik
Pass. (2) The Pamir-i-Wakhan. (3) The Pamir-i-Khurd, or Little Pamir. (4)
The Pamir-i-Kalan, or Great Pamir. (5) The Alichur Pamir. (6) The Sarez
Pamir. (7) The Rang Kul Pamir. (8) The Khargosh or Hare Pamir, which
contains the basin of the Great Kara Kul. See this most valuable paper,
The Pamirs and the Source of the Oxus, reprinted from the Geographical
Journal of 1896, in 1896, 1898, and 1899.
[Illustration: Some of the objects found by Dr. M.A. Stein in Central
Asia.]
6. - PEIN. (Vol. i. p. 192.)
Dr. M.A. Stein, of the Indian Educational Service, appears to have
exactly identified the site of Pein, during his recent archaeological
researches in Central Asia; he writes (Prel. Report on a Journey of
Archaeological and Topog. Exploration in Chinese Turkestan, Lond., 1901,
pp. 58-59): "Various antiquarian and topographical considerations made me
anxious to identify the position of the town of Pi-mo, which
Hiuen-Tsiang describes as some 300 li to the east of the Khotan capital.
It was probably the same place as the Pein, visited by Marco Polo. After
marching back along the Keriya River for four days, I struck to the
south-west, and, after three more marches, arrived in the vicinity of
Lachin-Ata Mazar, a desolate little shrine in the desert to the north of
the Khotan-Keriya route. Though our search was rendered difficult by the
insufficiency of guides and the want of water, I succeeded during the
following few days in tracing the extensive ruined site which previous
information had led me to look for in that vicinity. 'Uzun-Tati' ('the
distant Tati,') as the debris-covered area is locally designated,
corresponds in its position and the character of its remains exactly to the
description of Pi-mo. Owing to far-advanced erosion and the destruction
dealt by treasure-seekers, the structural remains are very scanty indeed.
But the debris, including bits of glass, pottery, china, small objects in
brass and stone, etc., is plentiful enough, and in conjunction with the
late Chinese coins found here, leaves no doubt as to the site having been
occupied up to the Middle Ages."
Our itinerary should therefore run from Khotan to Uzun Tati, and thence to
Nia, leaving Kiria to the south; indeed Kiria is not an ancient
place. - H.C.
[Illustration: MARCO POLO'S ITINERARY CORRECTED]
Mr. E.J. Rapson, of the British Museum, with the kind permission of Dr.
Stein, has sent me a photograph (which we reproduce) of coins and
miscellaneous objects found at Uzun Tati. Coin (1) bears the nien-hao
(title of reign) Pao Yuen (1038-1040) of the Emperor Jen Tsung, of the
Sung Dynasty; Coin (2) bears the nien-hao, K'ien Yuen (758-760) of the
Emperor Su Tsung of the T'ang Dynasty; Coin (3) is of the time of the Khan
of Turkestan, Muhammad Arslan Khan, about 441 A.H. = 1049 A.D. From the
description sent to me by Mr. Rapson and written by Mr. Andrews, I note
that the miscellaneous objects include: "Two fragments of fine Chinese
porcelain, highly glazed and painted with Chinese ornament in blue. That
on the left is painted on both sides, and appears to be portion of rim of
a bowl. Thickness 3/32 of an inch. That to the right is slightly coarser,
and is probably portion of a larger vessel. Thickness 1/4 inch (nearly). A
third fragment of porcelain, shown at bottom of photo, is decorated
roughly in a neutral brown colour, which has imperfectly 'fluxed.' It,
also, appears to be Chinese. Thickness 1/8 inch (nearly). - A brass or
bronze object, cast. Probably portion of a clasp or buckle. - A brass
finger ring containing a piece of mottled green glass held loosely in
place by a turned-over denticulated rim. The metal is very thin." - H.C.
7. - FIRE-ARMS. (Vol. i. p. 342.)
From a paper on Siam's Intercourse with China, published by
Lieutenant-Colonel Gerini in the Asiatic Quarterly Review for October,
1902, it would appear that fire-arms were mentioned for the first time in
Siamese Records during the Lau invasion and the siege of Swankhalok (from
1085 to 1097 A.D.); it is too early a date for the introduction of
fire-arms, though it would look "much more like an anachronism were the
advent of these implements of warfare [were] placed, in blind reliance upon
the Northern Chronicles, still a few centuries back. The most curious of
it all is, however, the statement as to the weapons in question having been
introduced into the country from China." Following W.F. Mayers in his
valuable contributions to the Jour. North-China B.R.A.S., 1869-1870,
Colonel Gerini, who, of course, did not know of Dr. Schlegel's paper, adds:
"It was not until the reign of the Emperor Yung Le, and on occasion of the
invasion of Tonkin in A.D. 1407, that the Chinese acquired the knowledge of
the propulsive effect of gunpowder, from their vanquished enemies."
8. - LA COUVADE. (Vol. ii. p. 91.)
Mr. H. Ling Roth has given an interesting paper entitled On the
Signification of Couvade, in the Journ. Anthropological Institute,
XXII. 1893, pp. 204-243. He writes (pp. 221-222): - "From this survey it
would seem in the first place that we want a great deal more information
about the custom in the widely isolated cases where it has been reported,
and secondly, that the authenticity of some of the reported cases is
doubtful in consequence of authors repeating their predecessors' tales, as
Colquhoun did Marco Polo's, and V. der Haart did Schouten's. I should not
be at all surprised if ultimately both Polo's and Schouten's accounts
turned out to be myths, both these travellers making their records at a
time when the Old World was full of the tales of the New, so that in the
end, we may yet find the custom is not, nor ever has been, so widespread
as is generally supposed to have been the case."
I do not very well see how Polo, in the 13th and 14th centuries could make
his record at a time when the Old World was full of the tales of the
New, discovered at the end of the 15th century!
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