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 684 POLO POLTAYA and when in 1275 they came within 40 days' journey of Oambalu (probably Peking), the capital of Cathay, they were met by an es- cort and conducted to the imperial city. The khan appointed Marco to an office about his person, and subsequently despatched him on embassies to neighboring chiefs, which he con- ducted with such prudence that he rapidly rose to higher distinctions. The northern provinces of China, eastern Thibet, the city of Lassa, and the province of Khorasan were succes- sively visited by Marco, who generally found the khan's favor a passport to the most secret and sacred places. In southern China he saw the capital Kinsai, with its vast parks, gardens, market places, and open spaces, which is prob- ably the modern town of Hangchow. For three years Marco filled the office of governor of a large city in this part of the empire, and his father and uncle had meanwhile made them- selves useful to the khan by instructing him how to make catapults and by other services ; so that when the three Venetians asked leave to revisit their native country Kublai at first refused, but finally dismissed them loaded with wealth and promising to return. They accom- panied a Persian embassy which had just ob- tained the daughter of Kublai Khan for their king, and, being unable on account of war to travel by land, sailed in a fleet of 14 ships of four masts. They touched at Borneo, Su- matra, the Nicobar and Andaman islands, Ceylon, and the Carnatic, proceeded up the Persian gulf, landed the princess (1292), and were magnificently entertained by the govern- ment for nine months. They then went by land through Kurdistan and Mingrelia to Tre- bizond on the Black sea, and taking ship ar- rived at Venice in 1295. Bronzed by the sun, dressed like Tartars, and speaking their native language with difficulty, it was long before they could persuade their friends of their iden- tity. To convince them, they invited all their old associates to a magnificent entertainment, and received them in gorgeous oriental dresses of crimson satin. Putting these off after the guests were seated, they appeared handsomely clad in crimson damask, which was exchanged after the first course for rich suits of crimson velvet. At the end of dinner they were seen in the ordinary garb of the time, and the dis- carded dresses were divided among the guests. When the cloth was removed Marco exhibited the coarse Tartar garments which they had worn on their travels, and ripping them open took out a profusion of jewels. They were now overwhelmed with distinctions, and re- ceived every mark of respect except having all their stories believed. Even on his deathbed Marco was urged to retract his alleged false- hoods ; but he solemnly reaffirmed all his state- ments, and there is now no doubt that he spoke substantially the truth. He was the first to make known to Europeans the existence of Japan. Maffeo became one of the principal magistrates of Venice. Marco was put in command of a galley in the fleet sent against the Genoese, off the coast of Dalmatia, was wounded in the ensuing engagement and car- ried prisoner to Genoa, and after four or five years' detention was liberated and returned to Venice, where he married and had two daugh- ters. During his captivity he dictated to a fel- low prisoner the account of his travels, which was finished in 1298. It was probably written and first published in French, and translated into Latin during Marco's lifetime; but it is impossible to determine which of the several discrepant texts in French, Italian, and Latin deserves the name of original. The French and Latin were published by the Paris society of geography in 1824, and the French, after three inedited manuscripts in the national li- brary at Paris, with explanatory notes and commentary, by Guillaume Pauthier, in 1865 (2 vols. large 8vo). The work has appeared repeatedly in all the principal European lan- guages. One of the best English versions is Marsden's, published with notes and commen- taries in Bohn's "Antiquarian Library." The latest English version is "Book of the King- dom and Marvels of the East," new translation and notes by Col. H. Yule (2 vols. 8vo, Lon- don, 1871 ; revised ed., much enlarged, 1875). POLOTZK, a town of Russia, on the Diina, in the government and 60 m. N. "W. of the town of Vitebsk; pop. in 1867, 11,418. It has a castle and other feeble fortifications, Greek and Catholic churches, a district school for the no- bility, a convent and college formerly belong- ing to the Jesuits, and some trade in flax and hemp. A United Greek bishop resides here. It is of great antiquity, and was once the capi- tal of a duchy of "White Russia, extending along the two banks of the Dtina. Ivan the Terrible of Russia wrested it in 1564 from Li- thuania. Stephen Bathory, king of Poland, reconquered it in 1579. In 1772 it was finally incorporated with Russia. In 1839 a large synod assembled here by the emperor Nicho- las declared the return of some millions of United Greeks to the Orthodox Greek church. POLTAVA, or Pnltowa. L A government of European Russia, in Ukraine, bordering on Tchernigov, Kursk, Kharkov, Yekaterinoslav, Kherson, and Kiev; area, 19,265 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 2,102,614. The surface is an almost unbroken plain, which declines gradually to the southwest, where the Dnieper flows along the frontier for upward of 200 m., and re- ceives the entire drainage by several rivers, the most important of which are the Sula and Vorskla. Potters' clay, lime, chalk, and salt- petre are the most valuable minerals. The soil is remarkably fertile, and it is one of the best cultivated portions of the empire. The principal crops are barley, oats, wheat, buck- wheat, and millet. Large numbers of cattle and sheep are reared. Bee culture is an im- portant industry. The manufactures are limit- ed, and consist chiefly of woollen goods, leath- er, and brandy. II. A city, capital of the gov-