The Details That They 'lay Eggs Just Like Our Fowls,' I.E.,
Not Pigmented, And Are 'very Good To Eat,' Are Facts That Would Naturally
Deserve Especial Mention In This Connexion.
Mr. A.D. Darbishire (of
Oxford and Edinburgh University) tells me that is quite correct:
The flesh
look horrid, but it is quite good eating. Do any texts suggest the
possibility of such a reading as I suggest?"
The references in the above quotation are, of course, to my father's
version of Marco Polo. That his nephew should make this interesting little
contribution to the subject would have afforded him much gratification.
A.F. YULE.
The Athenaeum, No. 4570, May 29, 1915, p. 485.
LXXX., pp. 226, 230.
SUGAR.
"I may observe that the Peh Shi (or 'Northern Dynasties History') speaks
of a large consumption of sugar in Cambodgia as far back as the fifth
century of our era. There can be no mistake about the meaning of the words
sha-t'ang, which are still used both in China and Japan (sa-to). The
'History of the T'ang Dynasty,' in its chapter on Magadha, says that in the
year 627 the Chinese Emperor 'sent envoys thither to procure the method of
boiling out sugar, and then ordered the Yang-chou sugar-cane growers to
press it out in the same way, when it appeared that both in colour and
taste ours excelled that of the Western Regions' [of which Magadha was
held to be part]." (E.H. PARKER, Asiatic Quart. Rev., Jan., 1904,
p. 146.)
ZAITUN.
LXXXII., p. 237.
M.G. Ferrand remarks that Tze tung = [Arabic], zitun in Arabic,
inexactly read Zaytun, on account of its similitude with its homonym
[Arabic], zyatun, olive. (Relat de Voy., I., p. 11.)
LXXXII., pp. 242-245.
"Perhaps it may not be generally known that in the dialect of Foochow
Ts'uean-chou and Chang-chou are at the present day pronounced in exactly
the same way - i.e., 'Chiong-chiu,' and it is by no means impossible that
Marco Polo's Tyunju is an attempt to reproduce this sound, especially
as, coming to Zaitun via Foochow, he would probably first hear the Foochow
pronunciation." (E.H. PARKER, Asiatic Quart. Rev., Jan., 1904, p. 148)
BOOK THIRD.
JAPAN, THE ARCHIPELAGO, SOUTHERN INDIA, AND THE COASTS AND ISLANDS OF THE
INDIAN SEA.
II., p. 256, n. 1.
NAFUN.
Regarding the similitude between Nipon and Nafun, Ferrand,
Textes, I., p. 115 n., remarks: "Ce rapprochement n'a aucune chance
d'etre exact [Arabic] Nafun est certainement une erreur de graphic
pour [Arabic] Yakut ou [Arabic] Nakus."
III., p. 261.
JAPANESE WAR.
"Hung Ts'a-k'iu, who set out overland via Corea and Tsushima in
1281, is much more likely than Fan Wen-hu to be Von-sain-chin
(probably a misprint for chiu), for the same reason Vo-cim
stands for Yung-ch'ang, and sa for sha, ch'a, ts'a,
etc. A-la-han (not A-ts'i-han) fell sick at the start, and was replaced by
A-ta-hai. To copy Abacan for Alahan would be a most natural
error, and I see from the notes that M. Schlegel has come to the same
conclusion independently." (E.H. PARKER, Asiatic Quart. Rev.,
Jan., 1904, p. 147.)
V., pp. 270, 271 n.
CHAMBA.
Lieut.-General Sagatu, So Tu or So To, sent in 1278 an envoy to the King
known as Indravarman VI. or Jaya Sinhavarman. Maspero (Champa, pp. 237,
254) gives the date of 1282 for the war against Champa with Sagatu
appointed at the head of the Chinese Army on the 16th July, 1282; the war
lasted until 1285. Maspero thinks 1288 the date of Marco's visit to Champa
(L.c., p. 254).
VII., p. 277 n.
SONDUR AND CONDUR (PULO CONDORE).
Mr. C.O. Blagden has some objection to Sundar Fulat being Pulo Condor:
"In connexion with Sundur-Fulat, some difficulties seem to arise. If it
represents Pulo Condor, why should navigators on their way to China call
at it after visiting Champa, which lies beyond it? And if fulat
represents a Persian plural of the Malay Pulau,'island,' why does it not
precede the proper name as generic names do in Malay and in Indonesian and
Southern Indo-Chinese languages generally? Further, if sundur
represents a native form cundur, whence the hard c (= k) of our
modern form of the word? I am not aware that Malay changes c to k in
an initial position." (J. R. As. Soc., April, 1914, p. 496.)
"L'ile de Sendi Foulat est tres grande; il y a de l'eau douce, des champs
cultives, du, riz et des cocotiers. Le roi s'appelle Resed. Les habitants
portent la fouta soit en manteau, soit en ceinture.... L'ile de Sendi
Foulat est entouree, du cote de la Chine, de montagnes d'un difficile
acces, et ou soufflent des vents impetueux. Cette ile est une des portes
de la Chine. De la a la ville de Khancou, X journees." EDRISI, I., p. 90.
In Malay Pulo Condor is called Pulau Kundur (Pumpkin Island) and in
Cambodian, Koh Tralach. See PELLIOT, Deux Itineraires, pp. 218-220.
Fulat = ful (Malay pule) + Persian plural suffix -at. Cundur fulat
means Pumpkin Island. FERRAND, Textes, pp. ix., 2.
VII., p. 277.
LOCAC.
According to W. Tomaschek (Die topographischen Capitel des Indischen
Seespiegels Mohit, Vienna, 1897, Map XXIII.) it should be read Losak =
The Lochac of the G.T. "It is Lankacoka of the Tanjore inscription of
1030, the Ling ya ssi kia of the Chu-fan-chi of Chau Ju-kua, the
Lenkasuka of the Nagarakretagama, the Lang-saka of Sulayman al
Mahri, situated on the eastern side of the Malay Peninsula." (G. FERRAND,
Malaka, le Malayu et Malayur, J. As., July-Aug, 1918, p. 91.) On the
situation of this place which has been erroneously identified with
Tenasserim, see Ibid., pp. 134-145 M. Ferrand places it in the region of
Ligor.
VII., pp. 278-279.
LAWAKI.
Lawaki comes from Lovek, a former capital of Cambodia; referring to the
aloes-wood called Lawaki in the Ain-i-Akbari written in the 16th
century, FERRAND, Textes, I., p. 285 n., remarks:
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