Latest / The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 1 / 026 - Book First Chapters 30 to 32 Of the province of Pashai Of the province of Keshimur Of the great rive

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026 - Book First Chapters 30 to 32 Of the province of Pashai Of the province of Keshimur Of the great rive · The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 1

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  Speaker 1: Section twenty six of the Book of Sir Marco Polo,
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  Speaker 1: the Venetian concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East,
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  Speaker 1: Volume IE. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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  Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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  Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Stephen Gibbons. The
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  Speaker 1: Book of Sir Marco Polo, the Venetian concerning the Kingdoms
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  Speaker 1: and Marvels of the East, Volume one by Rostacello de Pisa,
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  Speaker 1: translated by Henry Yule, Section twenty six, book first chapters
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  Speaker 1: thirty to thirty two of the Province of Pushai, of
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  Speaker 1: the Province of Kashmir, of the Great River of Badashan
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  Speaker 1: and Plain of Pomier. Chapter thirty of the Province of Pushai.
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  Speaker 1: You must know the ten days journey to the south
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  Speaker 1: of Badashan. There is a province called Pushai, the people
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  Speaker 1: of which have a peculiar language and are idolaters of
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  Speaker 1: a brown complexion. They are great adepts and sorceries and
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  Speaker 1: the diabolic arts. The men wear ear rings and brooches
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  Speaker 1: of gold and silver set with stones and pearls. They
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  Speaker 1: are a pestilent people and crafty, and they live upon
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  Speaker 1: flesh and rice. Their country is very hot. Now let
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  Speaker 1: us proceed and speak of another country, which is seven
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  Speaker 1: days journey from this one towards the southeast, and the
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  Speaker 1: name of which is Kashmir. Chapter thirty one of the
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  Speaker 1: Province of Kashmir. Kashmir also is a province inhabited by
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  Speaker 1: a people who are idolaters and have a language of
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  Speaker 1: their own. They have an astonishing acquaintance with the devilries
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  Speaker 1: of enchantment, insomuch that they make their idols to speak.
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  Speaker 1: They can also, by their sorceries, bring on changes of weather,
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  Speaker 1: and produce darkness, and do a number of things so
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  Speaker 1: extraordinary that no one without seeing them would believe them. Indeed,
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  Speaker 1: this country is the very original source from which idolatry
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  Speaker 1: has spread abroad. In this direction, you can proceed further
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  Speaker 1: until you come to the sea of India. The men
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  Speaker 1: are brown and lean, but the women, taking them as brunettes,
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  Speaker 1: are very beautiful. The food of the people is flesh
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  Speaker 1: and milk and rice. The clime is finely tempered, being
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  Speaker 1: neither very hot nor very cold. There are numbers of
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  Speaker 1: towns and villages in the country, but also forests and desert,
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  Speaker 1: tracts and strong passes, so that the people have no
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  Speaker 1: fear of anybody and keep their independence, with a king
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  Speaker 1: of their own to rule and do justice. There are
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  Speaker 1: in this country Aramites, after the fashion of those parts,
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  Speaker 1: who dwell in seclusion and practice great abstinence in eating
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  Speaker 1: and drinking. They observe strict chastity and keep from all
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  Speaker 1: sins forbidden in their law, so that they are regarded
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  Speaker 1: by their own folk as very holy persons. They live
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  Speaker 1: to a very great age. There are also a number
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  Speaker 1: of idolatrous abbeys and monasteries. The people of the province
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  Speaker 1: do not kill animals nor spill blood, so if they
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  Speaker 1: want to eat meat, they get the saracens who dwell
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  Speaker 1: among them to play the butcher. The coral, which is
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  Speaker 1: carried from our parts of the world, has a better
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  Speaker 1: sail there than in any other country. Now we will
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  Speaker 1: quit this country and not go any further in the
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  Speaker 1: same direction, for if we did so, we should enter India,
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  Speaker 1: and that I do not wish to do at present,
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  Speaker 1: For on our return journey I mean to tell you
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  Speaker 1: about India all in regular order. Let us go back
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  Speaker 1: therefore to Badashan, for we cannot otherwise proceed on our
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  Speaker 1: journey Chapter thirty two of the Great River of badash
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  Speaker 1: In leaving Badashan, you ride twelve days between east and northeast,
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  Speaker 1: ascending a river that runs through land belonging to a
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  Speaker 1: brother of the Prince of Badashan, and containing a good
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  Speaker 1: many towns and villages and scattered habitations. The people are
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  Speaker 1: Mohammedans and a valiant in war. At the end of
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  Speaker 1: those twelve days you come to a province of no
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  Speaker 1: great size, extending indeed no more than three days journey
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  Speaker 1: in any direction, and this is called Vokan. The people
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  Speaker 1: worship Mohammed and they have a peculiar language. They are
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  Speaker 1: gallant soldiers, and they have a chief whom they call non,
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  Speaker 1: which is as much as the say count. And they
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  Speaker 1: are liegemen to the Prince of Badashan. There are numbers
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  Speaker 1: of wild beasts of all sorts in this region. And
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  Speaker 1: when you leave this little country and ride three days northeast,
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  Speaker 1: always among mountains, you get to such a height tis
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  Speaker 1: said to be the highest place in the world. When
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  Speaker 1: you've got to this height, you find a great lake
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  Speaker 1: between two mountains and out of it a fine river
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  Speaker 1: running through a plain clothed with the finest pasture in
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  Speaker 1: the world, insomuch that a lean beast there will fatten
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  Speaker 1: to your heart's content in ten days. There are great
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  Speaker 1: numbers of all kinds of wild beasts, among others wild
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  Speaker 1: sheep of great size, whose horns are good six palms
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  Speaker 1: in length. From these horns, the shepherds make great bowls
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  Speaker 1: to eat from, and they use the horns also to
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  Speaker 1: enclose folds for their cattle at night. Messer Marco was
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  Speaker 1: told also that the wolves were numerous and killed many
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  Speaker 1: of those wild sheep. Hence quantities of their horns and
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  Speaker 1: bones were found, and these were made into great heaps
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  Speaker 1: by the wayside in order to guide travelers when snow
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  Speaker 1: was on the ground. The plain is called Pomire, and
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  Speaker 1: you ride across it for twelve days together, finding nothing
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  Speaker 1: but a desert without habitations or any green thing, so
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  Speaker 1: that travelers are obliged to carry with them whatever they
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  Speaker 1: have need of. The region is so lofty and cold
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  Speaker 1: that you do not even see birds flying. And I
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  Speaker 1: must notice also that because of this great cold, fire
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  Speaker 1: does not burn so brightly nor give out so much
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  Speaker 1: heat as usual, nor does it cook food so effectually. Now,
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  Speaker 1: if we go on with our journey towards the east northeast,
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  Speaker 1: we travel a good forty days, continually passing over mountains
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  Speaker 1: and hills, or through valleys, and crossing many rivers and
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  Speaker 1: tracts of wilderness. And in all this way you find
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  Speaker 1: neither habitation of man nor any green thing, but must
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  Speaker 1: carry with you whatever you require. The country is called Bolor.
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  Speaker 1: The people dwell high up in the mountains, and are
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  Speaker 1: savage idolaters, living only by the chase, and clothing themselves
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  Speaker 1: in the skins of beasts. They are in truth and
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  Speaker 1: evil race. End of section twenty six. Yes,