osed that dynasty (1341-1368) they were rebuilt by an
insurgent chief on a greatly reduced compass, probably that which they
still retain. Whatever may have been the facts, and whatever the origin of
the estimate, I imagine that the ascription of 100 miles of circuit to
Kinsay had become popular among Westerns. Odoric makes the same statement.
Wassaf calls it 24 parasangs, which will not be far short of the same
amount. Ibn Batuta calls the _length_ of the city three days' journey.
Rashiduddin says the enceinte had a _diameter_ of 11 parasangs, and that
there were three post stages between the two extremities of the city,
which is probably what Ibn Batuta had heard. The _Masalak-al-Absar_ calls
it _one_ day's journey in length, and half a day's journey in breadth. The
enthusiastic Jesuit Martini tries hard to justify Polo in this as in other
points of his description. We shall quote the whole of his remarks at the
end of the chapters on Kinsay.

[Dr. F. Hirth, in a paper published in the _T'oung Pao_, V. pp. 386-390
(_Ueber den Shiffsverkehr von Kinsay zu Marco Polo's Zeit_), has some
interesting notes on the maritime trade of Hang-chau, collected from a
work in twenty books, kept at the Berlin Royal Library, in which is to be
found a description of Hang-chau under the title of _Meng-liang-lu_,
published in 1274 by Wu Tzu-mu, himself a native of this city: there are
various classes of sea-going vessels; large boats measuring 5000 _liao_
and carrying from five to six hundred passengers; smaller boats measuring
from 2 to 1000 _liao_ and carrying from two to three hundred passengers;
there are small fast boats called _tsuan-feng_, "wind breaker," with six
or eight oarsmen, which can carry easily 100 passengers, and are generally
used for fishing; sampans are not taken into account. To start for foreign
countries one must embark at Ts'wan-chau, and then go to the sea of
Ts'i-chau (Paracels), through the Tai-hsue pass; coming back he must look
to Kwen-lun (Pulo Condor).--H.C.]

The 12,000 bridges have been much carped at, and modern accounts of
Hang-chau (desperately meagre as they are) do not speak of its bridges as
notable. "There is, indeed," says Mr. Kingsmill, speaking of changes in the
hydrography about Hang-chau, "no trace in the city of the magnificent
canals and bridges described by Marco Polo." The number was no doubt in
this case also a mere popular saw, and Friar Odoric repeats it. The sober
and veracious John Ma