Of Bot. Disc. I. p. 4.) - H.C.]
NOTE 2. - Having got to sure ground again at Kenjanfu, which is, as we shall
explain presently, the city of SI-NGAN FU, capital of Shen-si, let us look
back at the geography of the route from P'ing-yang fu. Its difficulties are
great.
The traveller carries us two days' journey from P'ing-yang fu to his castle
of the Golden King. This is called in the G. Text and most other MSS.
Caicui, Caytui, or the like, but in Ramusio alone Thaigin. He then
carries us 20 miles further to the Caramoran; he crosses this river,
travels two days further, and reaches the great city Cachanfu; eight days
more (or as in Ramusio seven) bring him to Si-ngan fu.
There seems scarcely room for doubt that CACHANFU is the HO-CHUNG FU [the
ancient capital of Emperor Shun - H.C.] of those days, now called P'U-CHAU
FU, close to the great elbow of the Hwang Ho (Klaproth). But this city,
instead of being two days west of the great river, stands near its
eastern bank.
[The Rev. C. Holcombe writes (pp. 64-65): "P'u-chau fu lies on a level with
the Yellow River, and on the edge of a large extent of worthless marsh
land, full of pools of brackish, and in some places, positively salt
water.... The great road does not pass into the town, having succeeded in
maintaining its position on the high ground from which the town has
backslided.... The great road keeping to the bluff, runs on, turning
first south, and then a trifle to the east of south, until the road, the
bluff, and Shan-si, all end together, making a sudden plunge down a
precipice and being lost in the dirty waters of the Yellow River." - H.C.]
Not maintaining the infallibility of our traveller's memory, we may
conceive confusion here, between the recollections of his journey westward
and those of his return; but this does not remove all the difficulties.
The most notable fortress of the Kin sovereigns was that of T'ungkwan, on
the right bank of the river, 25 miles below P'u-chau fu, and closing the
passage between the river and the mountains, just where the boundaries of
Ho-nan, Shan-si, and Shen-si meet. It was constantly the turning-point of
the Mongol campaigns against that Dynasty, and held a prominent place in
the dying instructions of Chinghiz for the prosecution of the conquest of
Cathay. This fortress must have continued famous to Polo's time - indeed it
continues so still, the strategic position being one which nothing short of
a geological catastrophe could impair, - but I see no way of reconciling its
position with his narrative.
[Illustration: Plan of Ki-chau, after Duhalde.]
The name in Ramusio's form might be merely that of the Dynasty, viz.
Tai-Kin= Great Golden. But we have seen that Thaigin is not the only
reading.
