u about it.

You see the river in question flows from the South to this city of
Sinjumatu. And the people of the city have divided this larger river in
two, making one half of it flow east and the other half flow west; that is
to say, the one branch flows towards Manzi and the other towards Cathay.
And it is a fact that the number of vessels at this city is what no one
would believe without seeing them. The quantity of merchandize also which
these vessels transport to Manzi and Cathay is something marvellous; and
then they return loaded with other merchandize, so that the amount of
goods borne to and fro on those two rivers is quite astonishing.[NOTE 1]

NOTE 1.--Friar Odoric, proceeding by water northward to Cambaluc about
1324-1325, says: "As I travelled by that river towards the east, and
passed many towns and cities, I came to a certain city which is called
SUNZUMATU, which hath a greater plenty of silk than perhaps any place on
earth, for when silk is at the dearest you can still have 40 lbs. for less
than eight groats. There is in the place likewise great store of
merchandise," etc. When commenting on Odoric, I was inclined to identify
this city with Lin-t'sing chau, but its position with respect to the two
last cities in Polo's itinerary renders this inadmissible; and Murray and
Pauthier seem to be right in identifying it with T'SI-NING CHAU. The affix
_Matu_ (_Ma-t'eu_, a jetty, a place of river trade) might easily
attach itself to the name of such a great depot of commerce on the canal
as Marco here describes, though no Chinese authority has been produced for
its being so styled. The only objection to the identification with
T'si-ning chau is the difficulty of making 3 days' journey of the short
distance between Yen-chau and that city.

Polo, according to the route supposed, comes first upon the artificial
part of the Great Canal here. The rivers _Wen_ and _Sse_ (from near
Yen-chau) flowing from the side of Shan-tung, and striking the canal line
at right angles near T'si-ning chau, have been thence diverted north-west
and south-east, so as to form the canal; the point of their original
confluence at Nan-wang forming, apparently, the summit level of the canal.
There is a little confusion in Polo's account, owing to his describing the
river as coming from the _south_, which, according to his orientation,
would be the side towards Hunan. In this respect his words would apply more
accurately to the _Wei_ River a