The Van Buren press., 1896-09-12
A STRANGE PEOPLE OF OLD.
Marco Polo Describes One of the Peoples
He Met In His Travels.

- hRINoE IOF VI w.
Marco Polo Describes One of the Peoples
He Met In His Travels.
Badashan is q province inhabited by
people who worship Mahommet, and
have a peculiar language. It forms a
very great kingdom and the royalty is
hereditary All those of the royal blood
are descended from Kink Alexander and
the daughter of King Darius, who was
lord of the vast empire of Persia. And
all these kings call themselves in the
Saracen tongue Zulcarnlain, which is
as much as to say alexander" and
this out of regard for Alexander the
Great.
It is in this province that those fine
and valuable gems, the Balas rubies,
are found, They are got in certain
rocks among the mountains, and in the
search for them the people dig great
caves underground, just as is done by
miners for silver. There is but one
special mountain that produces them,
and it is called Syghinan. The stones
are dug on the kings account, and no
one else dares dig in that mountain on
pain of forfeiture of life as well as
goods; nor may anyone carry the stones
out of the kingdom. But the king
amnsses them all. and sends them to
other kings when lie has tribute to
render, or when he desires to offer
friendly present; and such only as he
pleases he causes to be sold. Thus he
acts in order to keep the Balas at a high
value; for if he were to allow everybody
to dig they would extract so many that
the world would be glutted with them
and they would cease to bear any value.
Hence it is that he allows SO few to be
taken out, and is so strict in the mat
ter.
There is also in the same country an
other mountain in which azure is found;
it's the finest in the world, and is got in
u vein like silver. There are also other
mountains which contain great
amount of silver ore, so that the coun-
try is a very rich one; but it is also Git
must be said) a very cold one. 1t pro-
duces numbers of excellent horses, re-
markable for their speed. They are not
shod at all, although constantly used in
mountainous country, and on very bad
roads. They go at u great pace even
down steep deseents, where other horses
neither would nor could do the like,
And Messer Marco was told that not long
ago they possessed in that province Il
breed of horses descended from Alexan'
der's horse Bucepbalus, oil of which
had from their birth a particular mark
| in the forehead. This breed was entire
| ~ in the hands of an uncle of the kings
| and in consequence of his refusing to let
the king have any of them, the latter
put him to death. The widow then
in despite destroyed the whole breed,
and it is now extinct.
In the mountains there are vast mum
bers of sheep-400, 800 or 600 in single
flock, and all of them wild; and though
many Of them are taken, they never
seem to get aught the scarcer.
Those mountains are SO lofty that
| tits hard days work, from morning
till evening, to get to the top Of them,
On getting up, you find an extensive
| plain, with great abundance of grass
and trees, and copious springs of pure
water running down through rocks and
ravines. In those brooks are found
| trout and many other fish of dainty
kinds; and the air in those regions is
so pure, and residence there so health
full, that when the men who dwell be-
| low in the towns, and in the valleys and
! plains, find themselves attacked by any
| kind Of fever or other ailment that may
hap, they lose no time in going to the
hills; and after abiding there two or
three days, they quite recover their
health through the excellence OF that
air. And Messer Marco said he had
proved this by experience; for when in
those parts he had been i'll for about
year, but as soon as he was advised to
visit that mountain, he did so and got
well at once.
In this kingdom there are many
straight and perilous passes, so difficult
to force that the people have no fear OF
invasion. Their towns ara villages also
are on lofty hills, and in very strong
positions. They are excellent archers.
and much given to the chase; indeed,
most of them are dependent for clothing
on the skins of beasts, for stuffs are very
dear among them. The great ladies',
however, are arrayed in stuffs, and I will
tell you the style of their dress. They all
wear trousers made of cotton cloth, and
into the making of these some win put
60, so or even 100 ellis Of stuff-Noah
Brooks, in st. Nicholas.