shall find Polo's Oriental words
much more accurately expressed than this would imply--as in the next
chapter. I have hazarded a suggestion of (Or. Turkish) _Chong-lt-chi_,
"Keeper of the Big Dogs," which Professor Vambery thinks possible. (See
"_chong_, big, strong," in his _Tschagataische Sprachstudien_, p. 282, and
note in _Lord Strangford's Selected Writings_, II. 169.) In East Turkestan
they call the Chinese _Chong Kafir_, "The Big Heathen." This would exactly
correspond to the rendering of Pipino's Latin translation, "_hoc est canum
magnorum Praefecti_." _Chinuchi_ again would be (in Mongol)
"Wolf-keepers." It is at least possible that the great dogs which Polo
terms mastiffs may have been known by such a name. We apply the term Wolf-
dog to several varieties, and in Macbeth's enumeration we have--

----"Hounds, and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs,
Shoughs, water rugs, and _Demi-Wolves_."

Lastly the root-word may be the Chinese _Kiuen_ "dog," as Pauthier says.
The mastiffs were probably Tibetan, but may have come through China, and
brought a name with them, like _Boule-dogues_ in France.

[Palladius (p. 46) says that _Chinuchi_ or _Cunici_ "have no resemblance
with any of the names found in the _Yuen shi_, ch. xcix., article _Ping
chi_ (military organisation), and relating to the hunting staff of the
Khan, viz.: _Si pao ch'i_ (falconers), _Ho r ch'i_ (archers), and _Ke lien
ch'i_ (probably those who managed the hounds)."--H. C.]

CHAPTER XX.

HOW THE EMPEROR GOES ON A HUNTING EXPEDITION.

After he has stopped at his capital city those three months that I
mentioned, to wit, December, January, February, he starts off on the 1st
day of March, and travels southward towards the Ocean Sea, a journey of
two days.[NOTE 1] He takes with him full 10,000 falconers, and some 500
gerfalcons besides peregrines, sakers, and other hawks in great numbers;
and goshawks also to fly at the water-fowl.[NOTE 2] But do not suppose
that he keeps all these together by him; they are distributed about,
hither and thither, one hundred together, or two hundred at the utmost, as
he thinks proper. But they are always fowling as they advance, and the
most part of the quarry taken is carried to the Emperor. And let me tell
you when he goes thus a-fowling with his gerfalcons and other hawks, he is
attended by full 10,000 men who are disposed in couples; and these are
called _Toscaol_, which is as much as to say, "Watchers."