Volume II Part 154 (1/2)

II., p. 6.

SARAI.

”Cordier (Yule) identifiziert den von Pegolotti gewahlten Namen Saracanco mit dem jungeren Sarai oder Zarew (dem Sarai grande Fra Mauros), was mir vollkommen untunlich erscheint; es ware dann die Route des Reisenden geradezu ein Zickzackweg gewesen, der durch nichts zu rechtfertigen ware.”

(Dr. Ed. FRIEDMANN, _Pegolotti_, p. 14.)

Prof. Pelliot writes to me: ”Il n'y a aucune possibilite de retrouver dans _Saracanco, Sarai + Kunk_. Le mot _Kunk_ n'est pas autrement atteste, et la construction mongole ou turque exigerait _kunk-sarai_.”

XIII., pp. 25-26.

SHANG TU.

See also A. POZDNEIEV, _Mongoliya i Mongoly_, II., pp. 303 seq.

XV., pp. 27, 28-30. Now it came that Marco, the son of Messer Nicolo, sped wondrously in learning the customs of the Tartars, as well as their language, their manner of writing, and their practice of war--in fact he came in a brief s.p.a.ce to know several languages, and four sundry written characters.

On the linguistic office called _Sse yi kwan_, cf. an interesting note by H. MASPERO, p. 8, of _Bul. Ecole franc. Ext. Orient_, XII., No. 1, 1912.

XV., p. 28 n. Of the Khitan but one inscription was known and no key.

Prof. Pelliot remarks, _Bul. Ecole franc. Ext. Orient_, IV., July-Sept., 1904: ”In fact a Chinese work has preserved but five k'i-tan characters, however with the Chinese translation.” He writes to me that we do not know _any_ k'itan inscription, but half a dozen characters reproduced in a work of the second half of the fourteenth century. The Uighur alphabet is of Aramean origin through Sogdian; from this point of view, it is not necessary to call for Estranghelo, nor Nestorian propaganda. On the other hand we have to-day doc.u.ments in Uighur writing older than the _Kudatku Bilik_.

BOOK FIRST.

ACCOUNT OF REGIONS VISITED OR HEARD OF ON THE JOURNEY FROM THE LESSER ARMENIA TO THE COURT OF THE GREAT KAAN AT CHANDU.

BOOK I.

VI., p. 63. ”There is also on the river, as you go from Baudas to Kisi, a great city called Bastra, surrounded by woods, in which grow the best dates in the world.”

”The products of the country are camels, sheep and dates.” (At Pi-ss-lo, Basra. CHAU JU-KWA, p. 137.)

VI., pp. 63, 65. ”In Baudas they weave many different kinds of silk stuffs and gold brocades, such as _nasich_, and _nac_, and _cramoisy_, and many other beautiful tissue richly wrought with figures of beasts and birds.”

In the French text we have _na.s.sit_ and _nac_.

”S'il faut en croire M. Defremery, au lieu de _na.s.sit_, il faut evidemment lire _na.s.sij_ (necidj), ce qui signifie un tissu, en general, et designe particulierement une etoffe de soie de la meme espece que le _nekh_. Quant aux etoffes sur lesquelles etaient figures des animaux et des oiseaux, le meme orientaliste croit qu'il faut y reconnaitre le _thardwehch_, sorte d'etoffe de soie qui, comme son nom l'indique, representait des scenes de cha.s.se. On sait que l'usage de ces representations est tres ancien en Orient, comme on le voit dans des pa.s.sages de Philostrate et de Quinte-Curce rapportes par Mongez.” (FRANCISQUE-MICHEL, _Recherches sur le Commerce_, I., p. 262.)

VI., p. 67.

DEATH OF MOSTAS'IM.

According to Al-Fakhri, translated by E. Amar (_Archives marocaines_ XVI., p. 579), Mostas'im was put to death with his two eldest sons on the 4th of safar, 656 (3rd February, 1258).

XI., p. 75. ”The [the men of Tauris] weave many kinds of beautiful and valuable stuffs of silk and gold.”