314.) On the title-page of vol. i. we have introduced one of
these big Tibetan dogs as brought home by the Polos to Venice.
The "wild oxen called Beyamini" are probably some such species as the
Gaur. Beyamini I suspect to be no Oriental word, but to stand for
Buemini, i.e. Bohemian, a name which may have been given by the
Venetians to either the bison or urus. Polo's contemporary, Brunetto
Latini, seems to speak of one of these as still existing in his day in
Germany: "Autre buef naissent en Alemaigne qui ont grans cors, et sont
bons por sommier et por vin porter." (Paris ed., p. 228; see also
Lubbock, Pre-historic Times, 296-7.)
[Mr. Baber (Travels, pp. 39, 40) writes: "A special interest attaches to
the wild oxen, since they are unknown in any other part of China Proper.
From a Lolo chief and his followers, most enthusiastic hunters, I
afterwards learnt that the cattle are met with in herds of from seven to
twenty head in the recesses of the Wilderness, which may be defined as the
region between the T'ung River and Yachou, but that in general they are
rarely seen.... I was lucky enough to obtain a pair of horns and part of
the hide of one of these redoubtable animals, which seem to show that they
are a kind of bison." Sir H. Yule remarks in a footnote (Ibid. p. 40):
"It is not possible to say from what is stated here what the species is,
but probably it is a gavoeus, of which Jerdan describes three species.
(See Mammals of India, pp. 301-307.) Mr. Hodgson describes the Gaur
(Gavoeus gaurus of Jerdan) of the forests below Nepaul as fierce and
revengeful." - H.C.]
CHAPTER XLVII.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF CAINDU.
CAINDU is a province lying towards the west,[NOTE 1] and there is only
one king in it. The people are Idolaters, subject to the Great Kaan, and
they have plenty of towns and villages. [The chief city is also called
Caindu, and stands at the upper end of the province.] There is a lake
here,[1] in which are found pearls [which are white but not round]. But
the Great Kaan will not allow them to be fished, for if people were to
take as many as they could find there, the supply would be so vast that
pearls would lose their value, and come to be worth nothing. Only when it
is his pleasure they take from the lake so many as he may desire; but any
one attempting to take them on his own account would be incontinently put
to death.
There is also a mountain in this country wherein they find a kind of stone
called turquoise, in great abundance; and it is a very beautiful stone.
These also the Emperor does not allow to be extracted without his special
order.[NOTE 2]
