rignolli, alluding apparently to their statements, and
perhaps to others which have not reached us, says: "When authors tell of
its ten thousand noble bridges of stone, adorned with sculptures and
statues of armed princes, it passes the belief of one who has not been
there, and yet peradventure these authors tell us no lie." Wassaf speaks of
360 bridges only, but they make up in size what they lack in number, for
they cross canals as big as the Tigris! Marsden aptly quotes in reference
to this point excessively loose and discrepant statements from modern
authors as to the number of bridges in Venice. The great _height_ of the
arches of the canal bridges in this part of China is especially noticed by
travellers. Barrow, quoted by Marsden, says: "Some have the piers of such
an extraordinary height that the largest vessels of 200 tons sail under
them without striking their masts."

[Illustration: Plan of the Imperial City of Hangchow in the 13th Century.
(From the Notes of the Right Rev. G.E. Moule.)]

Mr. Moule has added up the lists of bridges in the whole department (or
_Fu_) and found them to amount to 848, and many of these even are now
unknown, their approximate sites being given from ancient topographies.
The number _represented_ in a large modern map of the city, which I owe to
Mr. Moule's kindness, is III.

NOTE 3.--Though Rubruquis (p. 292) says much the same thing, there is
little trace of such an ordinance in modern China. Pere Parrenin observes:
"As to the hereditary perpetuation of trades, it has never existed in
China. On the contrary, very few Chinese will learn the trade of their
fathers; and it is only necessity that ever constrains them to do so."
(_Lett. Edif._ XXIV. 40.) Mr. Moule remarks, however, that P. Parrenin is
a little too absolute. Certain trades do run in families, even of the free
classes of Chinese, not to mention the disfranchised boatmen, barbers,
chair-coolies, etc. But, except in the latter cases, there is no
compulsion, though the Sacred Edict goes to encourage the perpetuation of
the family calling.

NOTE 4.--This sheet of water is the celebrated SI-HU, or "Western Lake,"
the fame of which had reached Abulfeda, and which has raised the
enthusiasm even of modern travellers, such as Barrow and Van Braam. The
latter speaks of _three_ islands (and this the Chinese maps confirm), on
each of which were several villas, and of causeways across the lake, paved
and bordered with trees, and p