In returning from Ormus to Kerman, you pass through a fertile plain, but
the bread made there cannot be eaten, except by those who are accustomed to
it, it is so exceedingly bitter, on account of the water with which it is
made. In this country there are excellent hot baths, which cure many
diseases.
[1] Now Tebriz in Corcan. - E.
[2] This must refer to Fars, or Persia proper; as Tebriz is in Persia. - E.
[3] Perhaps Iracagemi? - E.
[4] Perhaps Kerman? - E.
[5] Inexplicably corrupt. - E.
[6] Timochaim and Arboresecco are inexplicable, perhaps from corrupt
transcription. But Timochaim appears to nave been Mekran on the coast
of the Indian sea, and perhaps reached to the Indus, as observed in a
former note; and it may have included Sigistan. - E.
[7] Jasdi is almost certainly Yezd in Fars. Pinkerton considers Chiaman to
be Crerina, which is impossible, as that place is afterwards named:
Perhaps it may be the province named Timochaim, mentioned in the
immediately preceding note. - E.
[8] As the route may be considered as nearly in a straight line south from
Yesd, Crerina may possibly be the city of Kerrnan, and the cold
elevated plain, a table land between the top of the Ajuduk mountains
and a nameless range to the south, towards Gambroon or Ormus. Adgamad
being destroyed, cannot now be ascertained, but it must have stood on
the fine plain above described, and at the bottom of these southern
mountains. Reobarle is not to be found In our maps, but must have been
a name for the province of Ormus. - E.
[9] There is a series of corruptions or absurdities here: a Malabar
government under a Sultan Asiden, or Asi-o-din, situated at Dely,
conquered by a secret expedition from Turkestan, requires a more
correct edition of the original of Marco Polo to render intelligible.
We can suppose a tribe of Indians or Blacks not far from Gombroon, to
have been under the rule of a mussel man Sultan, and conquered or
subverted by a Tartar expedition from Touran, or the north of Persia:
But this remains a mere hypothetical explanation. - E.
[10] For this paragraph, the editor is indebted to Mr Pinkerton, Mod. Geog.
II. xxii. who has had the good fortune to procure what he thinks an
original edition from the MS. of Marco Polo. - E.
[11] By some singular negligence in translating, Mr Pinkerton, in the
passage quoted in the preceding note, has ridiculously called this
country the plain of Formosa, mistaking the mere epithet,
descriptive of its beauty in the Italian language, for its name. The
district was obviously a distinct small kingdom, named Ormus from its
capital city; which, from its insular situation, and great trade with
India, long maintained a splendid independence. - E.
[12] The two Mahometan travellers of the ninth century, give precisely the
same account of the ships of Siraf, in the same gulf of Persia. - E.
SECTION IV.
Account of several other Countries, and their Principal Curiosities.
From Kerman[1], in three days riding, you come to a desert which extends to
Cobin-ham[2], seven days journey across, the desert. In the first three
days you have no water, except a few salt, bitter ponds, of a green colour,
like the juice of herbs; and whoever drinks even a small quantity of this
water, cannot escape a dysentery, and even beasts that are compelled to
drink of it, do not escape without a scouring. It is therefore necessary
for travellers to carry water along with them, that they may avoid the
inconvenience and danger of thirst. In the fourth day you find a
subterranean river of fresh water[3]. The three last days of this desert
are like the first three. Cobin-ham is a great city, where great mirrors of
steel are made[4]. Tutia also, which is a cure for sore eyes, and spodio
are made here in the following manner: From the mines of this country they
dig a certain earth, which is thrown into furnaces, from which the vapours,
forced downwards, through an iron grate, condense below into tutia of
tutty[5], and the grosser matter remaining in the furnace is called spodio.
Leaving Cobin-ham, you meet with another desert of eight days journey in
extent, and terribly barren, having neither trees or water, except what is
extremely bitter, insomuch, that beasts refuse to drink of it, except when
mixed with meal, and travellers are therefore obliged to carry water along
with them. After passing this desert, you come to the kingdom of
Timochaim[6], in the north confines of Persia, in which there are many
cities and strong castles. In this country there is an extensive plain, in
which one great tree grows, which is called the Tree of the Sun, and by
Christians Arbore-secco[7], or the dry tree. This tree is very thick, the
leaves being green on one side, and white on the other, and it produces
prickly and husky shells, like those of chesnuts, but nothing in them. The
wood is strong and solid, and of a yellow colour like box. There are no
other trees within an hundred miles, except on one side, where there are
trees at the distance of ten miles. In this place, the inhabitants say that
Alexander fought a battle against Darius[8]. The cities of this place are
plentifully furnished with good things; the air is temperate, and the
people handsome, especially the women, who are in my opinion the handsomest
in the world.
[1] Marco here probably means the town or city of Kerm-shir, as that lies
in the course of his present route from Ormus to the north-east of
Persia.
