ficers with
respect, and make them something of a present in goods or
money, they will behave with great civility and always be ready
to appraise your wares below their real value." _Op. cit._ ii.
307.]

[Footnote 338: The works of all the writers mentioned in this
paragraph, or copious extracts from them, may be found in
Yule's _Cathay_, which comprises also the book of the
celebrated Ibn Batuta, of Tangier, whose travels, between 1325
and 1355, covered pretty much the whole of Asia except Siberia,
besides a journey across Sahara to the river Niger. His book
does not seem to have attracted attention in Europe until early
in the present century.]

[Sidenote: First rumours of the Molucca islands and Japan.]

Thus, for just a century,--from Carpini and Rubruquis to
Marignolli,--while China was open to strangers as never before or since,
a few Europeans had availed themselves of the opportunity in such wise
as to mark the beginning of a new era in the history of geographical
knowledge. Though the discoveries of Marco Polo were as yet but
imperfectly appreciated, one point, and that the most significant of
all, was thoroughly established. It was shown that the continent of Asia
did not extend indefinitely eastward, nor was it bounded and barricaded
on that side, as Ptolemy had imagined, by vast impenetrable swamps. On
the contrary, its eastern shores were perfectly accessible through an
open sea, and half a dozen Europeans in Chinese ships had now actually
made the voyage between the coast of China and the Persian gulf.
Moreover, some hearsay knowledge--enough to provoke curiosity and
greed--had been gained of the existence of numerous islands in that
far-off eastern ocean, rich in the spices which from time immemorial had
formed such an important element in Mediterranean commerce. News, also,
had been brought to Europe of the wonderful island kingdom of Japan
(Cipango or Zipangu) lying out in that ocean some hundreds of miles
beyond the coast of Cathay. These were rich countries, abounding in
objects of lucrative traffic. Under the liberal Mongol rule the Oriental
trade had increased enough for Europe to feel in many ways its
beneficial effects. Now this trade began to be suddenly and severely
checked, and while access to the interior of Asia was cut off, European
merchants might begin to reflect upon the value of