at!" So he shut the Calif up in the
Treasure Tower, and bade that neither meat nor drink should be given him,
saying, "Now, Calif, eat of thy treasure as much as thou wilt, since thou
art so fond of it; for never shalt thou have aught else to eat!"

So the Calif lingered in the tower four days, and then died like a dog.
Truly his treasure would have been of more service to him had he bestowed
it upon men who would have defended his kingdom and his people, rather
than let himself be taken and deposed and put to death as he was.[NOTE 7]
Howbeit, since that time, there has been never another Calif, either at
Baudas or anywhere else.[NOTE 8]

Now I will tell you of a great miracle that befell at Baudas, wrought by
God on behalf of the Christians.

NOTE 1.--This form of the Mediaeval Frank name of BAGHDAD, _Baudas_ [the
Chinese traveller, Ch'ang Te, _Si Shi Ki_, XIII. cent., says, "the kingdom
of _Bao-da_," H. C.], is curiously like that used by the Chinese
historians, _Paota_ (_Pauthier; Gaubil_), and both are probably due to the
Mongol habit of slurring gutturals. (See _Prologue_, ch. ii. note 3.)
[Baghdad was taken on the 5th of February, 1258, and the Khalif
surrendered to Hulaku on the 10th of February.--H. C.]

NOTE 2.--Polo is here either speaking without personal knowledge, or is so
brief as to convey an erroneous impression that the Tigris flows to Kisi,
whereas three-fourths of the length of the Persian Gulf intervene between
the river mouth and Kisi. The latter is the island and city of KISH or
KAIS, about 200 miles from the mouth of the Gulf, and for a long time one
of the chief ports of trade with India and the East. The island, the
_Cataea_ of Arrian, now called Ghes or Kenn, is singular among the islands
of the Gulf as being wooded and well supplied with fresh water. The ruins
of a city [called Harira, according to Lord Curzon,] exist on the north
side. According to Wassaf, the island derived its name from one Kais, the
son of a poor widow of Siraf (then a great port of Indian trade on the
northern shore of the Gulf), who on a voyage to India, about the 10th
century, made a fortune precisely as Dick Whittington did. The proceeds of
the cat were invested in an establishment on this island. Modern attempts
to nationalise Whittington may surely be given up! It is one of the tales
which, like Tell's shot, the dog Gellert, and many others, are common to
many regions. (_Hammer's Ilch._ I. 239; _Ouseley's Travels