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| 0213 |
The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.2 |
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Ponente"; and it is worthy of note that in the campaigns of Alaudin Khilji and his
generals in the Deccan, circa 1300, frequent mention is made of the Western
Manjaniks and their great power. (See Elliot, III. 75, 78, etc.)
Of the kind worked by man-ropes must have been that huge mangonel which
Mahomed Ibn Kásim, the conqueror of Sind, set in battery against the great Dagoba
of Daibul, and which required 500 men to work it. Like Simon de Montfort's it had
a tender name; it was called "The Bride." (Elliot, I. 120.)
Before quitting this subject, I will quote a curious passage from the History of the
Sung Dynasty, contributed to the work of Reinaud and Favé by M. Stanislas Julien:
"In the 9th year of the period Hien-shun (A.D. 1273) the frontier cities had fallen
into the hands of the enemy (Tartars). The Pao (or engines for shooting) of the
Hwei-Hwei (Mahomedans) were imitated, but in imitating them very ingenious
improvements were introduced, and pao of a different and very superior kind were
constructed. Moreover, an extraordinary method was invented of neutralising the
effects of the enemy's pao. Ropes were made of rice-straw 4 inches thick, and 34
feet in length. Such ropes were joined, applied to the tops of buildings,
and covered with clay. In this manner the fire-arrows, fire-pao, and even the pao
casting stones of 100 lbs. weight, could cause no damage to the towers or houses."
(Ib. 196; also for previous parts of this note, Vindelou, 188; Gaubil, 34, 155 seqq.
and 70; De Mailla, 329; Pauthier in loco and Introduction; D'Ohsson, II. 35, and
391; Notes by Mr. Edward Thomas, F.R.S.; Q. Rashid., pp. 132, 136.) [See I.
p. 342.]
[Captain Gill writes (River of Golden Sand, I. p. 148): "The word 'P'ao'
which now means 'cannon,' was, it was asserted, found in old Chinese books of a
date anterior to that in which gunpowder was first known to Europeans; hence the
deduction was drawn that the Chinese were acquainted with gunpowder before it was
used in the West. But close examination shows that in all old books the radical of
the character 'P'ao' means 'stone,' but that in modern books the radical of the
character 'P'ao' means 'fire'; that the character with the radical 'fire' only appears
in books well known to have been written since the introduction of gunpowder into
the West; and that the old character 'P'ao' in reality means 'Balista.'"—H. C.]
["Wheeled boats are mentioned in 1272 at the siege of Siang-yang. Kúbláí did
not decide to 'go for' Manzi, i.e. the southern of the two Chinese Empires, until
1273. Bayan did not start until 1274, appearing
before Hankow in January 1275. Wuhu and Taiping
surrendered in April; then Chinkiang, Kien K'ang
(Nanking), and Ning kwoh; the final crushing blow
being dealt at Hwai-chan. In March 1276, the Manzi
Emperor accepted vassaldom. Kiang-nan was regularly
administered in 1278." (E. H. Parker, China Review,
xxiv. p. 105.)—H. C.]
Siang-yang has been twice visited by Mr. A. Wylie.
Just before his first visit (I believe in 1866) a discovery
had been made in the city of a quantity of treasure
buried at the time of the siege. One of the local
officers gave Mr. Wylie one of the copper coins, not
indeed in itself of any great rarity, but worth engraving
here on account of its connection with the siege com-
memorated in the text; and a little on the principle of Smith the Weaver's evidence:
—"The bricks are alive at this day to testify of it; therefore deny it not."
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731
732
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