In This Place The Ladies Hunted With Dogs, And When Wearied With Sport They Retired Into The Groves, And Throwing Off Their Garments, Came Forth Naked, And Fell To Swimming In The Lakes In The Kings Presence.

Sometimes he banqueted in these groves, being served by his damsels.

All of these particulars I learnt from an old rich merchant of Quinsai, who had been familiar with king Fanfur, and knew all the incidents of his life and reign, and had seen the palace in its most flourishing state; and he carried me to see it. The viceroy now resides there, the first described galleries remaining, still in their original state, but the chambers of the damsels are fallen to ruin; the walls also which encompassed the woods and gardens, are all fallen down, the beasts and trees are all gone, and all the other ornaments are destroyed.

Twenty-five miles from Quinsai we come to the ocean, between the east and the north-east, near which is a city called Gampu[11], having an excellent port frequented by merchant ships from the Indies. While I Marco was in Quinsai, an account was taken for the great khan, of the revenues, and the number of inhabitants, and I saw that there were enrolled 160 toman of fires, reckoning for each fire a family dwelling in one house. Each toman is 10,000, which makes 1,600,000 families[12]; and for all this population there is only one Nestorian church, all the rest being idolaters.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 584 of 810
Words from 159806 to 160059 of 222093