ted with Marco
Polo, whom the Genoese had deprived of his liberty _from motives equally
unknown_."[28]

To those who have no relish for biographies that round the meagre skeleton
of authentic facts with a plump padding of what _might have been_, this
sentence of Paulin Paris is quite refreshing in its stern limitation to
positive knowledge. And certainly no contemporary authority has yet been
found for the capture of our Traveller at Curzola. Still I think that the
fact is beyond reasonable doubt.

Ramusio's biographical notices certainly contain many errors of detail;
and some, such as the many years' interval which he sets between the
Battle of Curzola and Marco's return, are errors which a very little
trouble would have enabled him to eschew. But still it does seem
reasonable to believe that the main fact of Marco's command of a galley at
Curzola, and capture there, was derived from a genuine tradition, if not
from documents.

Let us then turn to the words which close Rusticiano's preamble (see
_post_, p. 2):--"Lequel (Messire Marc) puis demorant en le charthre de
Jene, fist retraire toutes cestes chouses a Messire Rustacians de Pise que
en celle meissme charthre estoit, au tens qu'il avoit 1298 anz que Jezu
eut vesqui." These words are at least thoroughly consistent with Marco's
capture at Curzola, as regards both the position in which they present
him, and the year in which he is thus presented.

There is however another piece of evidence, though it is curiously
indirect.

The Dominican Friar Jacopo of Acqui was a contemporary of Polo's, and was
the author of a somewhat obscure Chronicle called _Imago Mundi_.[29] Now
this Chronicle does contain mention of Marco's capture in action by the
Genoese, but attributes it to a different action from Curzola, and one
fought at a time when Polo could not have been present. The passage runs
as follows in a manuscript of the Ambrosian Library, according to an
extract given by Baldelli Boni:--

"In the year of Christ MCCLXXXXVI, in the time of Pope Boniface VI., of
whom we have spoken above, a battle was fought in Arminia, at the place
called Layaz, between xv. galleys of Genoese merchants and xxv. of
Venetian merchants; and after a great fight the galleys of the Venetians
were beaten, and (the crews) all slain or taken; and among them was
taken Messer Marco the Venetian, who was in company with those
merchants, and who was called _Milono_, which is as much