Set down in this Book; the customs of the people
and the various objects of commerce, the beasts and birds, the gold and
silver and precious stones, and many other matters have been rehearsed to
you. But our Book as yet does not contain nearly all that we purpose to
put therein. For we have still to tell you all about the people of India
and the notable things of that country, which are well worth the
describing, for they are marvellous indeed. What we shall tell is all
true, and without any lies. And we shall set down all the particulars in
writing just as Messer Marco Polo related them. And he well knew the
facts, for he remained so long in India, and enquired so diligently into
the manners and peculiarities of the nations, that I can assure you there
never was a single man before who learned so much and beheld so much as he
did.
NOTE 1. - The Laurus (or Cinnamomum) Camphora, a large timber tree,
grows abundantly in Fo-kien. A description of the manner in which camphor
is produced at a very low cost, by sublimation from the chopped twigs,
etc., will be found in the Lettres Edifiantes, XXIV. 19 seqq.; and
more briefly in Hedde by Rondot, p. 35.
