Another point is that the district of Tabas only grows
four months' supplies, and is, in consequence, generally avoided by
caravans owing to its dearness.
"In 1893 I travelled from Tun to the south across the Lut as far as Chah
Kuru by this very route, and can testify to the general accuracy of Ser
Marco's description,[1] although there are now villages at various points
on the way. Finally, as our traveller especially mentions Tonocain, or Tun
va Kain, one is inclined to accept this as evidence of first-rate
importance, especially as it is now corroborated by the information I
gained at Tabas. The whole question, once again, furnishes an example of
how very difficult it is to make satisfactory inquiries, except on the
spot."
It was also the opinion (1882) of Colonel C.E. Stewart, who says: "I was
much interested in hearing of Kuh Banan, as it is one of the places
mentioned by Marco Polo as on his route. Kuh Banan is described as a group
of villages about 26 miles from the town of Rawar, in the Karman district.
I cannot help thinking the road travelled by Marco Polo from Karman to
Kain is the one by Naiband. Marco Polo speaks of Tun-o-Cain, which,
Colonel Yule has pointed out, undoubtedly means Tun and Kain. At present
Tun does not belong to the Kain district, but to the Tabbas district, and
is always spoken of as Tun-o-Tabbas; and if it belonged, as I believe it
formerly did, to the Kain district, it would be spoken of as Tun-o-Kain,
exactly as Marco Polo does. Through Naiband is the shortest and best road
to either Tun or Kain." (Proc. Royal Geog. Soc., VIII., 1886, p. 144.)
Support to Yule's theory has been brought by Sven Hedin, who devotes a
chapter to Marco Polo in his Overland to India, II., 1910, Chap. XL.,
and discusses our traveller's route between Kuh-benan and Tabbas, pp. 71
seq.:
"As even Sykes, who travelled during several years through Persia in all
directions, cannot decide with full certainty whether Marco Polo travelled
by the western route through Tebbes or the eastern through Naibend, it is
easy to see how difficult it is to choose between the two roads. I cannot
cite the reasons Sir Henry Yule brings forward in favour of the western
route - it would take us too far. I will, instead, set forth the grounds of
my own conviction that Marco Polo used the direct caravan road between
Kuh-benan and Tebbes.
"The circumstance that the main road runs through Naibend is no proof, for
we find that Marco Polo, not only in Persia but also in Central Asia,
exhibited a sovereign contempt for all routes that might be called
convenient and secure.
