e late M.
Deveria and Dr. S. W. Bushell have deciphered but few of the Si Hia
characters.--H. C.]

The orders of the Great Kaan are stated to have been published habitually
in six languages, viz., Mongol, Uighur, Arabic, Persian, Tangutan
(Si-Hia), and Chinese.--H. Y. and H. C.

Ghazan Khan of Persia is said to have understood Mongol, Arabic, Persian,
something of Kashmiri, of Tibetan, of Chinese, and a little of the _Frank_
tongue (probably French).

The annals of the Ming Dynasty, which succeeded the Mongols in China,
mention the establishment in the 11th moon of the 5th year Yong-lo (1407)
of the _Sse yi kwan_, a linguistic office for diplomatic purposes. The
languages to be studied were Niuche, Mongol, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Bokharan
(Persian?) Uighur, Burmese, and Siamese. To these were added by the Manchu
Dynasty two languages called _Papeh_ and _Pehyih_, both dialects of the
S.W. frontier. (See infra, Bk. II. ch. lvi.-lvii., and notes.) Since 1382,
however, official interpreters had to translate Mongol texts; they were
selected among the Academicians, and their service (which was independent
of the _Sse yi kwan_ when this was created) was under the control of the
_Han-lin-yuen_. There may have been similar institutions under the Yuen,
but we have no proof of it. At all events, such an office could not then
be called _Sse yi kwan_ (_Sse yi_, Barbarians from four sides); Niuche
(Niuchen) was taught in Yong-lo's office, but not Manchu. The _Sse yi
kwan_ must not be confounded with the _Hui t'ong kwan_, the office for the
reception of tributary envoys, to which it was annexed in 1748. (_Gaubil_,
p. 148; _Gold. Horde_, 184; _Ilchan._ II. 147; _Lockhart_ in _J. R. G. S._
XXXVI. 152; _Koeppen_, II. 99; G. Deveria, _Hist. du College des
Interpretes de Peking_ in _Melanges_ Charles de Harlez, pp. 94-102; MS.
Note of Prof. A. Vissiere; _The Tangut Script in the Nan-K'ou Pass_, by
Dr. S. W. Bushell, _China Review_, xxiv. II. pp. 65-68.)--H. Y. and H. C.

Pauthier supposes Mark's four acquisitions to have been _Bashpah-Mongol,
Arabic, Uighur_, and _Chinese_. I entirely reject the Chinese. Sir H. Yule
adds: "We shall see no reason to believe that he knew either language or
character" [Chinese]. The blunders Polo made in saying that the name of
the city, Suju, signifies in our tongue "Earth" and Kinsay "Heaven" show
he did not know the Chinese characters, but we read in Bk. II. ch.
lxviii.: "And Messer Marco Polo himself, of wh