The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.2 / Page 549 (Color Image)

0549	The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.2

CHAP. XXII. ROSIA AND ITS PEOPLE

487

There are several kings in the country, and they have a

language of their own. They are a people of simple

manners, but both men and women very handsome, being

all very white and [tall, with long fair hair]. There are

many strong defiles and passes in the country ; and they

pay tribute to nobody except to a certain Tartar king of

the Ponent, whose name is TOCTAI ; to him indeed they

pay tribute, but only a trifle. It is not a land of trade,

though to be sure they have many fine and valuable furs,

such as Sables, in abundance, and Ermine, Vair, Ercolin,

and Fox skins, the largest and finest in the world [and

also much wax]. They also possess many Silver-mines,

from which they derive a large amount of silver.l

There is nothing else worth mentioning ; so let us

leave Rosia, and I will tell you about the Great Sea, and

what provinces and nations lie round about it, all in

detail ; and we will begin with Constantinople. First,

however, I should tell you of a province that lies between

north and north-west. You see in that region that I

have been speaking of, there is a province called LAC,

which is conterminous with Rosia, and has a king of its

own. The people are partly Christians and partly

Saracens. They have abundance of furs of good quality,

which merchants export to many countries. They live

by trade and handicrafts.'

There is nothing more worth mentioning, so I will

speak of other subjects ; but there is one thing more to

tell you about Rosia that I had forgotten. You see in

Rosia there is the greatest cold that is to be found any-

where, so great as to be scarcely bearable. The country

is so great that it reaches even to the shores of the Ocean

Sea, and 'tis in that sea that there are certain islands in

which are produced numbers of gerfalcons and peregrine

falcons, which are carried in many directions. From

Russia also to OROECH it is not very far, and the journey

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