For On Reference To Biot I See That The First Syllable Of
The Modern Name Of The Town Which M. Garnier Writes Homi, Is
Expressed By The Same Character As The First Syllable Of NGOning.
[The Wo-nhi are also called Ngo-ni, Kan-ni, Ho-ni, Lou-mi, No-pi, Ko-ni
and Wa-heh; they descend from the southern barbarians called Ho-nhi.
At
the time of the kingdom of Nan-Chao, the Ho-nhi, called In-yuen, tribes
were a dependence of the Kiang (Xieng) of Wei-yuen (Prefecture of
P'u-erh). They are now to be found in the Yunnanese prefectures of
Lin-ngan, King-tung, Chen-yuen, Yuen-kiang and Yun-nan. (See Deveria, p.
135.) - H.C.]
We give one of M. Garnier's woodcuts representing some of the races in
this vicinity. Their dress, as he notices, has, in some cases, a curious
resemblance to costumes of Switzerland, or of Brittany, popular at fancy
balls.[1] Coloured figures of some of these races will be found in the
Atlas to Garnier's work; see especially Plate 35.
NOTE 2. - All the French MSS. and other texts except Ramusio's read 15. We
adopt Ramusio's reading, 25, for reasons which will appear below.
[1] There is a little uncertainty in the adjustment of names and figures
of some of these tribes, between the illustrations and the incidental
notices in Lieutenant Garnier's work. But all the figures in the
present cut certainly belong to the tract to which we point as Anin;
and the two middle figures answer best to what is said of the
Ho-nhi.
CHAPTER LVIII.
CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF COLOMAN.
Coloman is a province towards the east, the people of which are Idolaters
and have a peculiar language, and are subject to the Great Kaan. They are
a [tall and] very handsome people, though in complexion brown rather than
white, and are good soldiers.[NOTE 1] They have a good many towns, and a
vast number of villages, among great mountains, and in strong
positions.[NOTE 2]
When any of them die, the bodies are burnt, and then they take the bones
and put them in little chests.
These are carried high up the mountains, and placed in great caverns,
where they are hung up in such wise that neither man nor beast can come at
them.
A good deal of gold is found in the country, and for petty traffic they
use porcelain shells such as I have told you of before. All these
provinces that I have been speaking of, to wit Bangala and Caugigu and
Anin, employ for currency porcelain shells and gold. There are merchants
in this country who are very rich and dispose of large quantities of
goods. The people live on flesh and rice and milk, and brew their wine
from rice and excellent spices.
NOTE 1. - The only MSS. that afford the reading Coloman or Choloman
instead of Toloman or Tholoman, are the Bern MS., which has Coloman
in the initial word of the chapter, Paris MS. 5649 (Pauthier's C) which
has Coloman in the Table of Chapters, but not in the text, the Bodleian,
and the Brandenburg MS. quoted in the last note. These variations in
themselves have little weight. But the confusion between c and t in
mediaeval MSS., when dealing with strange names, is so constant that I
have ventured to make the correction, in strong conviction that it is the
right reading. M. Pauthier indeed, after speaking of tribes called Lo on
the south-west of China, adds, "on les nommait To-lo-man ('les nombreux
Barbares Lo')." Were this latter statement founded on actual evidence we
might retain that form which is the usual reading. But I apprehend from
the manner in which M. Pauthier produces it, without corroborative
quotation, that he is rather hazarding a conjecture than speaking with
authority. Be that as it may, it is impossible that Polo's Toloman or
Coloman should have been in the south of Kwangsi, where Pauthier locates
it.
On the other hand, we find tribes of both Kolo and Kihlau Barbarians
(i.e. Man, whence KOLO-MAN or Kihlau-man) very numerous on the
frontier of Kweichau. (See Bridgman's transl. of Tract on Meautsze, pp.
265, 269, 270, 272, 273, 274, 275, 278, 279, 280.) Among these the Kolo,
described as No. 38 in that Tract, appear to me from various particulars
to be the most probable representatives of the Coloman of Polo,
notwithstanding the sentence with which the description opens: "Kolo
originally called Luluh; the modern designation Kolo is incorrect."[1]
They are at present found in the prefecture of Tating (one of the
departments of Kweichau towards the Yun-nan side). "They are tall, of a
dark complexion, with sunken eyes, aquiline nose, wear long whiskers, and
have the beard shaved off above the mouth. They pay great deference to
demons, and on that account are sometimes called 'Dragons of Lo.' ... At
the present time these Kolo are divided into 48 clans, the elders of which
are called Chieftains (lit. 'Head-and-Eyes') and are of nine grades....
The men bind their hair into a tuft with blue cloth and make it fast on
the forehead like a horn. Their upper dresses are short, with large
sleeves, and their lower garments are fine blue. When one of the
chieftains dies, all that were under him are assembled together clad in
armour and on horseback. Having dressed his corpse in silk and woollen
robes, they burn it in the open country; then, invoking the departed
spirit, they inter the ashes. Their attachment to him as their sole master
is such that nothing can drive or tempt them from their allegiance. Their
large bows, long spears, and sharp swords, are strong and well-wrought.
They train excellent horses, love archery and hunting; and so expert are
they in tactics that their soldiers rank as the best among all the
uncivilized tribes. There is this proverb:
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