ces marked on the
map, each of which contains 250 miles, as far as the very great and
splendid city of Quinsay.[440] For it is a hundred miles in
circumference and has ten bridges, and its name means City of Heaven,
and many wonderful things are told about it and about the multitude of
its arts and revenues. This space is almost a third part of the whole
sphere. That city is in the province of Mangi, or near the province of
Cathay in which land is the royal residence. But from the island of
Antilia, which you know, to the very splendid island of Cipango[441]
there are ten spaces. For that island abounds in gold, pearls, and
precious stones, and they cover the temples and palaces with solid gold.
So through the unknown parts of the route the stretches of sea to be
traversed are not great. Many things might perhaps have been stated more
clearly, but one who duly considers what I have said will be able to
work out the rest for himself. Farewell, most esteemed one."

[Footnote 439: This paragraph is evidently the conclusion of
the letter to Columbus, and not a part of the letter to
Martinez, which has just ended with the date. In _Vita dell'
Ammiraglio_ the two letters are mixed together.]

[Footnote 440: On modern maps Hang-chow. After 1127 that city
was for some time the capital of China, and Marco Polo's name
_Quinsay_ represents the Chinese word _King-sse_ or "capital,"
now generally applied to Peking. Marco Polo calls it the finest
and noblest city in the world. It appears that he does not
overstate the circumference of its walls at 100 Chinese miles
or _li_, equivalent to about 30 English miles. It has greatly
diminished since Polo's time, while other cities have grown.
Toscanelli was perhaps afraid to repeat Polo's figure as to the
number of stone bridges; Polo says there were 12,000 of them,
high enough for ships to pass under! We thus see how his
Venetian fellow-citizens came to nickname him "Messer Marco
Milione." As Colonel Yule says, "I believe we must not bring
Marco to book for the literal accuracy of his statements as to
the bridges; but all travellers have noticed the number and
elegance of the bridges of cut stone in this part of China."
_Marco Polo_, vol. ii, p. 144.]

[Footnote 441: For Cipango, or Japan, see