Lives of Celebrated Travellers Author:St. John General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1837 Original Publisher: Harper Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select f... more »rom more than a million books for free. Excerpt: MARCO POLO. Bom 12M. -- Died 1324. The relations of Ascelin, Carpini, and Rubruquis, which are supposed by some writers to have opened the way to the discoveries of the Polo family, are by no means entitled to so high an honour. Carpini did not return to Italy until the latter end of the year 1248; Ascelin's return was still later; and although reports of the strange things they had beheld no doubt quickly reached Venice, these cannot be supposed to have exercised any very powerful influence in determining Nicolo and Maffio to undertake a voyage to Constantinople, the original place of their destination, from whence they were accidentally led on into the extremities of Tartary. With respect to Rubruquis, he commenced his undertaking three years after their departure from Venice, while they were in Bokhara; and before his return to Palestine they had already penetrated into Cathay. The influence of the relations of these monks upon the movements of the Polos is therefore imaginary. Nicolo and Maffio Polo, two noble Venetians engaged in commerce, having freighted a vessel with rich merchandise, sailed from Venice in the year 1250. Traversing the Mediterranean and the Bos- phorus, they arrived in safety at Constantinople, Baldwin II. being then Emperor of the East. Here they disposed of their cargo, and purchasing rich jewels with the proceeds, crossed the Black Sea to Soldain, or Sudak, in the Crimea, from whence they travelled by land to the court of Barkah Khan, a Tartar prince, whose principal residences were the cities ofAl-Serai, and Bolghar. To this khan theypresented ...« less