verge of a
river, as is frequently the case on the He-lung Kiang.... It had been done
so thoroughly from the first, that scarcely any additions had to be made
in after days. Another kind of work which generally strikes tourists like
Father Martini, or Chinese travellers, is the poling up of the road on the
sides of steep cliffs....[2] Extensive cliffs are frequently rounded in
this way, and imagination is much struck with the perils of walking on the
side of a precipice, with the foaming river below. When the timbers rot,
such passages of course become obstructed, and thus the road is said to
have been periodically in complete disuse. The repairs, which were chiefly
made in the time of the Ming, concerned especially passages of this sort."
Richthofen also notices the abundance of game; but inhabited places appear
to be rarer than in Polo's time. (See _Martini_ in _Blaeu_; _Chine
Ancienne_, p. 234; _Ritter_, IV. 520; _D'Ohsson_, II. 22, 80, 328;
_Lecomte_, II. 95; _Chin. Rep._ XIX. 225; _Richthofen_, _Letter_ VII. p.
42, and MS. Notes).

[1] The last is also stated by Klaproth. Ritter has overlooked the
discrepancy of the dates (B.C. and A.D.) and has supposed Liu Pei and
Liu Pang to be the same. The resemblance of the names, and the fact
that both princes were founders of Han Dynasties, give ample room for
confusion.

[2] See cut from Mr. Cooper's book at p. 51 below. This so exactly
illustrates Baron R.'s description that I may omit the latter.

CHAPTER XLIII.

CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF ACBALEC MANZI.

After you have travelled those 20 days through the mountains of CUNCUN
that I have mentioned, then you come to a province called ACBALEC MANZI,
which is all level country, with plenty of towns and villages, and belongs
to the Great Kaan. The people are Idolaters, and live by trade and
industry. I may tell you that in this province, there grows such a great
quantity of ginger, that it is carried all over the region of Cathay, and
it affords a maintenance to all the people of the province, who get great
gain thereby. They have also wheat and rice, and other kinds of corn, in
great plenty and cheapness; in fact the country abounds in all useful
products. The capital city is called ACBALEC MANZI [which signifies "the
White City of the Manzi Frontier"].[NOTE 1]

This plain extends for two days' journey, throughout which it is as fine
as I have told you, with towns and villages as numerous