) identifiziert den von Pegolotti gewaehlten Namen Saeracanco
mit dem juengeren Sarai oder Zarew (dem Sarai grande Fra Mauros), was mir
vollkommen untunlich erscheint; es waere dann die Route des Reisenden
geradezu ein Zickzackweg gewesen, der durch nichts zu rechtfertigen waere."
(Dr. Ed. FRIEDMANN, _Pegolotti_, p. 14.)

Prof. Pelliot writes to me: "Il n'y a aucune possibilite de retrouver dans
_Saracanco, Sarai + Kunk_. Le mot _Kunk_ n'est pas autrement
atteste, et la construction mongole ou turque exigerait _kunk-sarai_."

XIII., pp. 25-26.

SHANG TU.

See also A. POZDNEIEV, _Mongoliya i Mongoly_, II., pp. 303 seq.

XV., pp. 27, 28-30. Now it came that Marco, the son of Messer Nicolo, sped
wondrously in learning the customs of the Tartars, as well as their
language, their manner of writing, and their practice of war--in fact he
came in a brief space to know several languages, and four sundry written
characters.

On the linguistic office called _Sse yi kwan_, cf. an interesting
note by H. MASPERO, p. 8, of _Bul. Ecole franc. Ext. Orient_,
XII., No. 1, 1912.

XV., p. 28 n. Of the Khitan but one inscription was known and no key.

Prof. Pelliot remarks, _Bul. Ecole franc. Ext. Orient_, IV., July-Sept.,
1904: "In fact a Chinese work has preserved but five k'i-tan characters,
however with the Chinese translation." He writes to me that we do not know
_any_ k'itan inscription, but half a dozen characters reproduced in a work
of the second half of the fourteenth century. The Uighur alphabet is of
Aramean origin through Sogdian; from this point of view, it is not
necessary to call for Estranghelo, nor Nestorian propaganda. On the other
hand we have to-day documents in Uighur writing older than the _Kudatku
Bilik_.

BOOK FIRST.

ACCOUNT OF REGIONS VISITED OR HEARD OF ON THE JOURNEY FROM THE LESSER
ARMENIA TO THE COURT OF THE GREAT KAAN AT CHANDU.

BOOK I.

VI., p. 63. "There is also on the river, as you go from Baudas to Kisi, a
great city called Bastra, surrounded by woods, in which grow the best
dates in the world."

"The products of the country are camels, sheep and dates." (At Pi-ssi-lo,
Basra. CHAU JU-KWA, p. 137.)

VI., pp. 63, 65. "In Baudas they weave many different kinds of silk stuffs
and gold brocades, such as _nasich_, and _nac_, and _cramoisy_, and many
other beautiful tissue richly wrought with figures of beasts and birds."

In the French text we have _nassit_ and _nac_.

"S'il f