MOST interesting and wonderful of all overland journeys of which history affords any account, is unquestionably that performed by Marco Polo who, proceeding from Venice, his native place, made a trip to the regions of the far east and abode with the great Khan of Chinese Tartary for a period of twenty-six years. A description of this most celebrated trip is especially important as an indispensable link in the chain which binds in harmonious sequence the voyages of discovery as I shall attempt to relate them; for to the report of Polo's travels are we indirectly indebted for the discovery of America.

Directly after Polo's return from Cathay, he caused to be printed an account of all the wonderful things that he saw in the east, in which was contained such extravagant descriptions of the inconceivable riches in gold, silver, precious stones, and valuable spices, which distinguished the country bordering on the Pacific, that Columbus, after reading Polo's book, became so ambitious to reach that auriferous region that he conceived the project of making a voyage westward, in the belief that, as the world was round, this route must offer the easiest and most direct passage to that country. It was in pursuit of this ambition and belief that Columbus discovered the West Indies on his first, and South America on his second voyage.

Directly after Columbus started on his first voyage, John Cabot had occasion to visit Mecca, and there seeing caravans arriving from the far east with great stores of spices, beheld in these what he considered as proofs of the stories that Polo had related, which he had previously doubted. Being now excited by the same ambitions that had actuated Columbus, Cabot set sail with a fleet equipped by some English merchants for farther India, which he likewise hoped to reach by a directly westward route, and thus came upon the shore of North America.

In view, therefore, of the importance and captivating interest which attaches to Polo's travels, it is proper to preface their relation with a brief notice of this most distinguished traveller.

A COUNTRY ABOUT WHICH MOORE AND MILTON SANG.

The birth of Marco Polo is said to have occurred in the year 1254. His father, Nicolo, one of the most distinguished men of his time, had acquired an immense fortune in commercial pursuits, which finally led him, with his brother Maffei, to visit the Crimea with a view of extending his trade to the nations of the east. Ormus, at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, was the city to which was directed the commerce of the east and the west; the people there making exchanges of goods as those of Asia and Europe do at Nishni Novgorod on the Volga to-day. Thus Ormus became in its day one of the richest cities on the globe, about whose wealth Milton afterwards sang. Nicolo and Maffei, after reaching the Crimea, were induced by promises of more lucrative trade in the farther east to extend their journey to Bokhara, celebrated in Tom Moore's Lalla Rookh, and from thence they were induced to visit Kubia Khan, who was the Emperor of China. The country of China was not at that time described by its present limits, but included the whole of Tartary, of which latter country Genghis Khan was originally ruler, but having conquered China he annexed that country, and his successors made their seat of government at Cambaluc -- the modern Pekin -- which Kubia Khan enlarged, fortified and glorified. The particular inducements which led the two Polos to visit the great Khan (which is the Tartar word for Emperor) are not understood, but they must have been considerable; and their coming was evidently heralded in advance, for the great Tartar ruler received them with every manifestation of cordial hospitality, as the first visitors to his country from European civilization.

THE KHAN SENDS FOR CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTORS.

After their residence for several years at Cambaluc, the two Polos were sent back by the Khan as envoys to Italy, bearing a golden tablet which served them as a passport through all the countries of the east, and a written request from the Khan to the Pope to send to China teachers of the Christian religion. On their return to Venice, however, they found Pope Clement IV dead, and his successor not yet appointed. Nicolo Polo's wife had also died in the meantime, but directly after his departure for the far east had borne him a son who was now eleven years of age. The brothers remained in Venice for a period of two years, when they started again for the far east, accompanied by the lad, Marco, the hero of our narrative. Directly after their departure Gregory X, who had succeeded to the office of Pope, in compliance with the request which had been brought by the two Polos, sent two Dominicans to carry the Christian religion into the Tartan Empire. But before they had completed any considerable part of the journey they became discouraged by the hardships endured, and returned. Marco, with his father and uncle, continued on, however, intending to take a ship at Ormus and make the journey to China (or Cathay) by sea. But failing to find a ship ready upon their arrival at that place, they proceeded overland until they reached the hill country of Badakhshan, situated in Central Asia, where Marco falling sick they remained a considerable while, and until his recovery was complete. Thence their journey lay by way of the great desert of Gobi, which is 1200 miles long, and thence in a north-easterly direction until in the spring of 1275 the three reached Xanadu, where they were met by the imperial courtiers of Kubia Khan who conducted them to Cambaluc. Though their mission to the Pope had not been successful, the Khan was no less pleased to see them, and being favorably struck by the appearance of young Marco, he took him to the royal court and placed him under instructors, where the young Venetian speedily acquired a knowledge of four of the leading languages of Tartary, and thus fitted himself for active service under the Emperor. In the year 1277, Marco was attached to the Imperial Council, and was soon afterward sent by Kubia Khan on a mission to Yunnan, which was a province in the extreme south-western part of China.

THE POLOS ATTACHED TO THE ROYAL COURT.

In the meantime, the two elder Polos remained with the great Khan, who never tired of showing them his favors, and who in turn received from them helpful suggestions and a knowledge of the usages of the extreme west, which he employed to the great advantage of his country. After Marco returned from Yunnan, and before he was yet twenty years of age, he was appointed to the position of governor of the city of Yangchow, the modern city of Hanchow. After a residence of nearly twenty years with the Tartan Emperor, the two elder Polos became anxious to return to their homes in Venice, having acquired great riches during their visit in the east. But their repeated requests for permission to visit Venice again were denied, through the desire of the Emperor to retain their wise counsels. But in 1293 their services as experienced travellers were sought by the Emperor to conduct to Tabreez a bride, chosen from among the Mongols, for a Persian Khan who was an ally of the Tartan Emperor. Under this commission, Marco and his father and uncle sailed from Chinchew. But after a perilous journey of nearly two years (a surprisingly long while), during which many of their companions perished, they succeeded in reaching their destination, only to find that the royal bridegroom had died in the meantime. According to the custom of the country, she was then married to the eldest son, after which the Polos returned safely to their country.

In the year 1298 Venice became engaged in a war with Genoa, in which "Marco enlisted, and in a naval battle which occurred between the two powers soon after, Polo was taken prisoner, and remained in the fortress of Genoa until peace was declared between the two republics, in July of the following year. During his imprisonment, he was persuaded by a fellow captive, Rusticiano, to dictate a description of his travels, that it might be published for the benefit of his countrymen. The narrative was written by Rusticiano in the Venetian language, but it was first printed in the Latin, from which it was directly after translated into the French. It is to the story thus related that we are indebted for the wonderful, interesting, and valuable history which is summarized in the following pages.

March Polo begins the description of his journey with a r�sum� of the history of the great Tartan Empire. As his entire relation makes a book of considerably more than two hundred pages of the size of this, exceeding brevity causes me to hasten rapidly over the territory which he traversed. He relates the history of the extension of Tartan territory in the following manner: -- "When the Tartans began to extend their conquests there were four brothers, the eldest of whom, named Mangu, reigned in Sedia. These purposing to subdue the world, went one to the east, another to the south, named Ulan, a third to the north, and the other to the west. In the year 1250, Ulan, having a great army of one hundred thousand horse, besides infantry, used policy, and having hid a great part of his men, brought by pretending flight the Caliph into his ambuscade, and took him to the city in which he found infinite store of treasure, insomuch that he was amazed. He sent for the Caliph, and reproved him, that in that war he had not provided himself with soldiers for defence, and commanded that he should be enclosed in that tower where his treasure was, without other sustenance.

TALE OF A DEVOUT SHOEMAKER.

"This seemed a just judgment from our Lord Jesus Christ on him: for in the year 1225, seeking to convert the Christians to the Mohammedan religion, and taking advantage from that place in the Gospel, "That he that hath faith, as a grain of mustard-seed, shall be able to remove mountains," he summoned all the Christians, Nestorians, and Jacobites, and propounded to them in ten days to remove a certain mountain, or turn Mohammedan, or be slain, as not having one man amongst them which had the least faith. They therefore continued eight days in prayer, after which a certain shoemaker, in consequence of a revelation made to a bishop, was fixed upon to perform it. This shoemaker, once tempted to lust by the sight of a young woman in putting on her shoes, zealously had fulfilled that of the Gospel, and literally had put out his right eye with an awl. He now on the day appointed, with other Christians, followed the cross, and lifting his hands to heaven, prayed to God to have mercy on his people, and then with a loud voice commanded the mountain in the name of the Holy Trinity to remove; which presently, to the great terror of the Caliph and his people, was effected, and that day is since kept holy by fasting, also the evening before it."

It will be observed by the reader that the cities mentioned by Marco Polo have no place in our present geographies. The reason of this must be apparent upon consideration of the fact that, not only have several centuries elapsed, but on account of fierce wars which have agitated the Tartan Empire for a like period, there must have resulted not only the destruction of cities, but of tribes as well, and a change of routes, so that the face of the entire Tartan Empire has since undergone a complete transformation nor is it possible for us to accurately locate the places mentioned by Polo, though this in no wise affects the truthfulness of his relation.

A PARADISE FILLED WITH PERIS.

Having traversed the whole of Persia, Polo came at length to a city called Mulehet, which signified in the Saracen language the place of heretics, the prince of which was denominated "The Old Man of the Mountain," whose name it will be remembered occurs in the story of "Sinbad the Sailor," related in the "Arabian Nights." The true name of this ruler was Aloadine, and his religion was that of Mohammedanism. With the peculiar resources which distinguish the people of that creed, he had provided a singular means of attaching to himself, by the strongest bonds, the valorous youths of his country. Marco relates that this sovereign had "in a lovely valley, betwixt two mountains which were very high and inaccessible, caused a pleasant garden to be laid out, furnished with the best trees and fruits he could find, adorned with divers palaces and houses of pleasure, beautified with gilded bowers, pictures, and tapestries of silk. Through this place, by pipes to different parts of these palaces, ran wine, milk, honey, and clear water; in them he had placed beautiful damsels, skilful in songs and instruments of music and dancing, and to make sports and delights unto men whatsoever they could imagine. They were also richly dressed in gold and silk, and were seen continually sporting in the garden and palaces. He made this palace because Mohammed had promised such a sensual paradise to his devout followers. No man could enter it; for at the mouth of the valley was a strong castle, and the entrance was by a secret passage. Aloadine had certain youths, from twelve to twenty years of age, such as seemed of a bold and dauntless disposition, whom he instructed daily as to the delights of Mohammed's paradise, and how he could bring men thither; and when he thought proper, he caused a certain drink to be given to ten or twelve of them at a time, which cast them into a deep sleep, and then he caused them to be carried into several chambers of the said palaces, where they saw the things he described; as soon as they awaked, each of them had those damsels to supply them with meats and excellent wines, and yield all varieties of pleasure to them; insomuch that the fools thought themselves in paradise indeed.

THE KEEPER OF PARADISE BROUGHT TO JUDGMENT.

"When they had enjoyed these pleasures four or five days, they were cast into a sleep, and carried forth again; after which he caused them to be brought into his presence, and questioned them where they had been? who answered "By your grace, in paradise;" and recounted to him all what hath been before mentioned. Then the Old Man answered, "This is the commandment of our prophet, that whosoever defends his Lord, he allows him to enter paradise; and if thou wilt be obedient unto me, thou shalt have this grace;" and having thus animated them, he was thought happy whom the Old Man would command, though it cost him his life; so that other lords, and his enemies were slain by these assassins, who exposed themselves to all dangers and contemned their lives. Aloadine, having thus surrounded himself with so many brave young men, robbed all who passed through his territory, until in the year 1262, Ulan sent and besieged his castle, and after three years so reduced the robber chief by famine that he captured his capital and directly put him to death."

ILLUSIONS IN THE DESERT.

Passing through this territory of the robber chief, Marco Polo entered the city of Samarcand, which was situated in a most fertile plain which, though a part of the Khan's territory, was chiefly occupied by Christians. Beyond Samarcand was the city of Lop, through which merchants passed to Cathay. But directly beyond Lop lay a great desert which was most difficult to traverse, having neither water nor vegetation. In it, Marco reports, there were neither beasts nor birds, and it was rendered more dangerous by the superstitions of the people, who declared that it was inhabited by spirits, that caused great and marvellous illusions to travellers, and lured them to destruction. If a caravan became separated, it was believed that the travellers heard strange whisperings in the air and concerts of musical instruments, and the drums and noises of armies, which so disconcerted them that they, were unable to see their way, and being thus led out of their course, would invariably, perish on the burning sands.

Beyond the desert lay the city of Sachion, which was in the province of Tangut. It was in the midst of a very fertile country, furnishing such abundance of fruits that the inhabitants lived chiefly off such products. Being idolaters, they practised many curious rites, and employed astrologers to forecast the future of every enterprise which they undertook. Their funeral rites were no less curious, their custom being to embalm their dead with spices and to cover the body with painted and embroidered cloths. The dead were also kept for many days in the house, and at meal-time a fair proportion of food was set before the bodies, in the belief that the soul of the dead lingered about and required nourishment the same as the living. The astrologers some times forbade the carrying out of a body through the chief gate, and not infrequently required that it be taken through an aperture broken through a wall in the house, to prevent, as they maintained, the interference of evil spirits, which played a conspicuous part in all their affairs. When the body was finally deposited in the ground, the custom was to paint the images, of men and women and animals upon paper, which were burned over the dead body, and occasionally the body itself was burned at the same time, in the belief that these pictured images would serve the spirit of the deceased in the land to which it had emigrated.

A WONDERFULLY DEGRADING CUSTOM.

From Sachion, the Polos, came to the province of Camul, which was also in that of Tangut, and subject to the Great Khan. The chief city was also called Camul, and though lying between two deserts, had a large number of inhabitants, who practised the most curious customs, but whose principal ambition was to glorify themselves with magnificent buildings and rich ornamentation. The people of Camul applied themselves to sensual pleasures of the most degrading character. Their chief occupation seemed to be sporting, singing, dancing, and the playing on musical instruments. But the most distinguishing characteristic, as related by our traveller, was the custom of abandoning the house and its female inmates to any stranger who might choose to seek entertainment. Describing this exceedingly strange practice Marco says: "When any traveller passing by goes into any man's house for entertainment, the master of the family receives him with great joy, and commands his wife and all the family, that as long as he will abide with them, they obey him in all things. In the mean time he departs, and returns not so long as the guests remains at his house; and during all this space, the stranger is entertained by the wife and daughters, as if they were his own family. The women of the country are beautiful, and ready to obey all these commandments of their husbands, who are so besotted with this folly that they think it a glorious thing for them, and believe it so acceptable to their idols that through their favor, thus obtained, they prosper and enjoy plenty of all things." The Emperor, Mangu Khan, upon one occasion issued a command forbidding the folly of these people, which order they obeyed for a period of three years; but during this time, it happened that they were troubled with domestic afflictions and failure of crops, which they attributed to their obedience to this order of their Emperor, and upon their petition to re-institute the custom, the Khan answered them, "Since you desire your reproach and shame, let it be granted you; go and do herein after your wont." The messenger returning with this answer brought great joy to all the people, and the custom was immediately renewed and was prevalent at the time of Marco's visit.

INDESTRUCTIBLE CLOTH OF SALAMANDER SKIN.

Beyond Camul lay the province of Chinchintalas, which was bounded on the north by a desert, and sixteen days' journey in extent. It had several large cities and many castles, and was inhabited by Nestorians, Mohammedans, and idolaters. In this province, Marco maintains, there is a mountain where great numbers of salamanders were to be found, of the skins of which a cloth was made which would resist the action of fire. Marco does not relate the story as an eye witness, but received the statement from a Turk who was one of his companions, and a man whom he vouched for as being endowed with singular industry, intelligence and honesty. This Turk, after telling him of the wonderful qualities of the cloth made from the skins of the salamanders, declared that a certain mineral was also to be found in that mountain, which yielded thread not unlike wool, which being dried in the sun and bruised in a brazen mortar, and afterwards washed, was then spun like other wool and woven into cloth; and when it was desirable to cleanse these cloths, it was only necessary to cast them into a fire for the space of an hour, when they might be taken out uninjured and whiter than snow. Marco would not vouch for the truth of what had been related to him concerning the indestructible quality of the salamander skin, but he repeats a story that was told him, to the effect that there is a certain napkin in Rome woven of salamander wool, wherein the handkerchief of the Lord is kept wrapped up, which a certain king of the Tartans sent to the Bishop of Rome.

IN THE COUNTRY OF PRESTER JOHN.

After leaving the last places named, our travellers came to a city called Caracarum, which was three miles in circumference, and strongly fortified with earth embankments, there being no stone in that country. In this place, which seems to have had nothing in particular to recommend it as a stronghold, the Tartars of olden times were accustomed to assemble, and prepare their schemes for attacking neighboring nations. To the north there were many vast plains uninhabited, but abounding in pastures, rivers and lakes, which region was used for pasturing cattle, of which the people possessed vast herds. The inhabitants of Caracarum had no direct ruler, but paid tribute to a certain king named Umcan, whom Polo identifies, as presbyter, or priest John, more commonly known as prester John. To him the Tartars gave annual tithes. But despite this burden, they increased in number until Umcan, becoming fearful of the power which they were developing, thought it prudent to disperse them. For this purpose he sent several bodies of Tartars against them, whose power they made no effort to oppose, but abandoning their country, went to the south, where they resolved themselves into an independent nation. This happened in the year 1100.

Sixty-two years later they found themselves so numerous that they desired a ruler, and selected from among themselves a distinguished warrior, named Zingis (Genghis) Khan. The new sovereign ruled with such justice that he begat the love of his people, and his fame soon spread afar, and with such favor that neighboring provinces came voluntarily under his rulership. Finding himself now at the head of a large and prosperous nation, Zingis armed his people with bows and other weapons, and began the conquest of other nations. Whenever he captured a city or a province he placed it immediately under the direction of a wise governor, who was instructed to seek only the good and happiness of the people whom he was thus appointed to govern.