Yielding Due Reverence To The Great Khan, They Promised
Faithfully To Execute The Charge Which He Had Committed To Them, And To
Present To The Pope The Letters In The Tartarian Language, Which He Gave
Them For That Purpose.
According to the custom of the empire, the great
khan caused to be given them a golden tablet, engraven
And signed with the
mark or signet of the khan, in virtue of which, instead of a passport, the
bearers were entitled to be everywhere conveyed in safety through dangerous
places, by the governors of provinces and cities, throughout the whole
empire, having their expences everywhere defrayed, and should be furnished
with whatever was needful for them and their attendants in all places, and
for as long as they might have occasion to stay.
Taking their leave of the great khan, they set out upon the journey into
the west, carrying with them the letters to the pope, and the golden
tablet. After travelling twenty days, the Tartar lord, who was associated
in their embassy to the pope, fell grievously sick; on which, having
consulted upon what was best to be done, they resolved to leave him, and to
continue their journey, They were everywhere courteously received, through
the authority of the imperial tablet; yet they were often compelled to
wait, by the overflowing of the rivers, in the course of their journey, so
that they spent three years before they reached the port in the country of
the Armenians, called Giazza [9]. From thence they proceeded to Acre [10],
where they arrived in the month of April 1269.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 432 of 810
Words from 118193 to 118459
of 222093
