the country and people; another gives him a different one. They travel in different periods, have different talents and tastes, different occupations and connections. One is a missionary, another is engaged in the haunts of business, and a third resides at court.

The author has prefixed a notice of all the books of travels on China that are extant, and a brief geographical description of the empire, and has inserted maps and plates as they appeared to be necessary.

The first traveller that appears in the book is Carpini, who, with another monk, was sent in 1246, by Pope Innocent IV, as an ambassador to the Tartar emperor, with the twofold design of dissuading him from making further inroads upon Europe, and of preparing the way for the introduction of Christianity into Tartary. The two travellers went first directly to the court of Bohemia, where the king interested himself much in their behalf, and provided a conveyance for them to Silesia, and thence to Massovia. Here they learned that it was necessary to be provided with presents, and here, too, they met Wasilik of Russia, with whom they travelled to Kiew, then the Russian capital. At this place they were obliged to dispose of their horses, because they were not accustomed to dig under the snow and feed on the steppe grass. Consequently, they took post horses, and on the 4th of February, 1246, they reached Kanow, the first Tartar town, a little below Kiew on the Dnieper. Here they were introduced with oriental ceremony to one of the princes, who sent them forward still farther east, with guides to the camp of the khan Batu. From thence they set out, under new guides, for the emperor's tent, or Golden Horde, which they reached on the 27th of July, the very day that a new emperor was elected. This gave them opportunity to witness the rude splendor of that nomadic court. All the countries between Russia and China, both of which were then conquered by Tartar arms, sent their princes. or ambassadors to the election and coronation; and the number present was said to be 4000. All these, as well as our travellers, were obliged to approach the person of the emperor on their knees. In the following winter, the two papal ambassadors returned, and travelled for two or three months through trackless steppes, on which not a tree was to be seen and slept upon the snow, with which

the winds often buried them during the night. They arrived, at length, on the 8th of June, at Kiew, after a profitless journey of unexampled difficulty and danger.

The next is a brief account of a similar embassy, in 1247, by four Dominican monks, of which Ascelin was the principal individual. They went by way of Persia to the Tartar camp, had endless disputes about presents and acts of homage, were detained an unreasonable length of time, barely escaped torture and death, and finally returned by way of Syria, the northern border of which was thirty days' journey from the "Horde," and reached Rome after an absence of three years and seven months.

The third traveller in this work is William of Rubruck, sent in 1253, by Saint Louis, king of France, then in Cyprus. He went by way of Constantinople, the Euxine, the Don and Wolga, to the camp of the same Batu mentioned above. From this place, across the Mongolian desert to Karakorum, was a journey of five months. As the emperor Mengho was in China, Rubruck was obliged to continue his route to that country, taking his course to the south-east, and proceeding through Tangut, Thibet, and Solanga. He accompanied the emperor and his court back to Karakorum; from thence he returned, by Astracan and Aleppo, to Acre. We have not room for more par

ticulars.

Next comes the most celebrated and important book of travels which has ever been published respecting China, —we mean the travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian, from 1272 to 1295. Of no similar work have there been so many editions and translations. The English edition, with learned notes by Marsden, is by far the best. For a long time, his accounts were ridiculed, and he was named Mr. Million, from the incredible population which he gave to the large Chinese cities. But modern investigations show, that he was the most exact and faithful of all the European travellers in China. Respecting the interior of China, we owe more to him than to all the modern ambassadors, merchants and missionaries put together.

The two brothers, Nicholas and Matthew Polo, of a noble Venetian family, sailed, in 1260, in a merchant vessel to Constantinople; from thence they proceeded across the Euxine to Armenia. From Armenia they travelled,

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by way of Sudak and Guthakha, to Bochara in Persia. After residing there three years, they became acquainted with an ambassador of the Tartar monarch, who, struck with their familiarity with the Tartar language, and their talents and general knowledge, proposed that they should accompany him to his court, thinking that his sovereign would be pleased if he should introduce them to him. They accepted the proposal, and made the long journey through a cold and snowy region, and in 1265 were received with great favor by the emperor. Five years from the time of their arrival, they were solicited to accompany one of the Tartar nobles on a mission to Rome, to request the Pope to send to Tartary a hundred Christian teachers. They set out on this mission, under the most favorable auspices; but the distinguished nobleman soon sickened and died. They, however, continued their journey to Armenia, and here took ship and arrived at Venice in 1272. When they had spent two years in their native city, they called to mind the wishes of their generous benefactor, and, accordingly, after obtaining letters from Gregory X, to Kublai, the emperor, they returned to his court, accompanied by two monks, and by Marco Polo, son of Nicholas, then but fifteen years of age. When they landed in Armenia, there were civil commotions there, which so terrified the monks, that they fled and took refuge with one of the Knights Templar. The three Polos continued their journey alone, and the emperor, hearing that they were on their way back, sent a military escort of 4000 men to meet them at a distance of forty days' journey. The evidences furnished of their having done what they could to gratify his wishes, satisfied him of their fidelity, and he showed them so much favor, that it excited the envy of the court.

The young Marco Polo soon made himself master of the four Tartar languages, and of the usages of the court, and thereby so won the favor of the monarch, that at the age of twenty-one he was sent on important public business to a distant province. Such were the extraordinary talents and knowledge he displayed, that he was promoted to higher offices, and often sent into the provinces charged with responsible duties. It was during these oft repeated and extensive travels that he kept those accurate journals, which have been so instructive to subsequent

ages, and whose character is rising with every revolving year. China was never more flourishing than under the Tartar emperor Kublai Khan; and this was the very time of Polo's residence in Tartary and China. It is interesting to trace his journey from Venice across central Asia to Pekin,-for Kublai had now fixed his capital here. The route, from Ancona through the Dardanelles and the Euxine, to Armenia has already been indicated. It continued through Georgia, Bagdad, Kermania, Heret, Balk and Badakshan (i. c., from Georgia south-east along to the entrance of the Persian gulf, then north-east across the desert to Belur Tag); through Kashgar, Hami, Sha tcheou, Champion (Kan tcheou, where he remained one year), Sining and Ninghia. Thus, from Persia to the borders of China, he followed the great route described at the beginning of this article, the only one leading from central Asia. From Ninghia he followed the left bank of the Hoangho through Tenduc (along the north and east of the great bend), and passing the great wall, entered Cathay (North China), and at length arrived at Cambalu (Pekin). It is amusing to see how these places are laid down in our older maps. Cathay is represented as an immense empire between China and Kanschatka! and Cambalu on the river Amur, 10° north of Pekin! One of Polo's early journeys in China, was from Pekin directly south-west through the whole extent of the country to the borders of Burmah. No modern European traveller has seen any of this immense region, and the noble Venetian and a few Jesuits are our only guides. It is here that Polo speaks of the passage from China to Burmah, through which the armies of both countries passed, in a war that raged between them at that time, and through which Chinese caravans passed at stated seasons. That part of Yunnan which bordered upon Burmah was then called Karayan (the country of the Karens), and the people spoke a different language. From this part of China, he passed through the central or rather southern provinces to Yanghui (Yan tcheou), on the canal, a little north of the Kiang, where he resided as provincial governor for three years. The minute account which he gives of the numerous cities near the heart of the empire where he so long remained as governor, renders his work invaluable, even at the present time, 600 years after it

was written. But we must break off from this fascinating topic, by remarking, that after a seventeen years' residence in China, our traveller longed to see his native Venice, and having with difficulty obtained the consent of the magnanimous emperor to return, he was conveyed by a fleet, in great splendor, to India, whence he went by land to Constantinople, and reached Venice in 1295, loaded with riches and honors.

The fifth in this collection is an account of a Persian embassy, sent by Shak Rokh, to China in 1419. The route was from Herat, by way of Samarcand, Turfan, Hami and Su tcheou, where the caravan, consisting of 860 persons, were examined, and then received with great splendor by the Chinese authorities stationed at this outpost. The city is described as strongly fortified, and as being a place of considerable trade. It is near the western extremity of the wall in the mountain pass, leading from China to the west of Asia. The armed forces here were exactly on the plan of the Russian military colonies. After nine days' journey the embassy reached Kan tcheou, the capital of the Chinese territory west of the Hoangho. Here, as in every city, the ambassadors who, with all their retinue, had been gratuitously supplied with lodging and provisions, received 450 horses, 56 carriages, and more than 600 men, to convey them on their journey. In every city they were received into a public hall, having a curtained throne, directed towards Pekin, in the midst, with carpets for all but the servants, who were placed in the rear, and at the signal, given by the guard, who stood near the throne, the Chinese magistrates and ambassadors all bowed their heads, and were then seated at their repast. In general, they found imperial inns every night, and cities at the end of every week. As they approached Pekin, the splendor of their accommodations continually increased. We pass over the ceremonial at court, the costly presents given and received, the tardy and solemn forms of audience, the allotment of places of residence, public dinners and daily provisions, the imperial chase and dramatic exhibitions, and. the honors and perils of ambassadors; for, in all these. respects, every embassy, Persian, Russian, Portuguese, Dutch and English, see the same wonders and tell the same tales. Rokh's embassy returned by the same route, and in 1421 arrived in safety at his capital, Heret.