Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 21, 2025
In confirmation of this, the goldsmith told me they had brought a person from Kathay, who, by the size of his body, appeared to be only three years old, yet was capable of reasoning, and knew how to write, and who affirmed that he had passed through three several bodies.
The travellers here separated, Alonso de Payva passing over to the emperor of Ethiopia, erroneously called Presbyter John: For he, of whom Marco Polo speaks, under that title, as governing all the Indies, and whose country joins with the great khan of Kathay, was vanquished and slain in a battle by that sovereign; at which time his kingdom was put an end to, and no one of that race or title has since reigned.
After a residence of three years in Cambalu, I departed from the empire of Kathay, and travelled fifty days to the west, when I arrived in the dominions of Pretegoani , whose principal city is Cosan.
To-day, the eighth of June, we are in the latitude of the south side of Cuba, along the shores of which he coasted, mistaking them for Cipango, beyond which he was to reach the magnificent country of Kathay, as described in the glowing pages of Marco Polo, and Mandeville. We have passed the parallel of the Isle of St. Domingo, his beloved and heart-breaking Hispaniola.
The only other situation in all China which accords with the two canals, or rivers, communicating both with Kathay and Mangi, is Yotcheou on the Tong-ting-hou lake, which is on the Kian-ku river, and at a sufficient distance from the Hoang-ho to agree with the text. In the absence of all tolerable certainty, conjecture seems allowable.
Yet others of the Cafila of Bagdad passed with the despised sons of Iran; notably Deccanese, Hindoos, Afghans, and people from the Himalayas, and beyond them far as Kathay, and China, and Siam, all better known to the Prince than to his Shaykh, who spoke of them, saying, "Thou shouldst know thine own, O Hadji! Thou art their father!"
Kathay and Mangi, as formerly mentioned, are Northern and Southern China, so that the direction of these rivers ought perhaps to have been described as north and south, instead of east and west.
The Kathayans of Ulug-Beg, here mentioned, were probably Chinese astronomers in the service of that prince, sent on the present occasion to ascertain and report the geographical circumstances of the journey. The text here is obscure, as appearing to indicate Kathayan ambassadors going to Kathay. They may have been ambassadors from Yong-lo to Shakh-Rokh, now on their return.
To the west, this empire is bounded by that of the Tarsae; to the north by the desert of Belgian; and to the south by the sea, in which there are innumerable islands. The inhabitants of Kathay are exceedingly skilful and ingenious in all works of art and in manufactures, but are of a very timorous disposition.
Harris. The names of all places and provinces in the travels of Marco Polo, are either so disguised by Tartar appellations, or so corrupted, that they cannot be referred with any certainty to the Chinese names upon our maps. Coiganzu, described afterwards as the first city in the south-east of Mangi in going from Kathay, may possibly be Hoingan-fou, which answers to that situation.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking