weight, to kill the men, and ruin the houses in the besieged city.  The khan assigned them carpenters, who were Nestorian Christians, to work under their direction, and they made three of these engines, which were tried before the khan and approved of.  These were accordingly sent by shipping to the army before Sian-fu, and being planted against the city, cast great stones into it, by which some of the houses were beaten down and destroyed.  The inhabitants were very much astonished and terrified by the effect of these machines, and surrendered themselves to the authority and dominion of the khan, on the same conditions with the rest of Mangi; and by this service, the Venetian brethren acquired great reputation and favour.

From this city of Sian-fu, to another called Sin-gui, it is accounted fifteen miles to the south-east.  This city, though not very large, has a prodigious number of ships, as it is situate on the greatest river in the world, called Quiam [l5], being in some places ten, in others eight, and in others six miles broad.  But its length extends to a distance of above an hundred days journey from its source to the sea, receiving numberless navigable rivers in its course, from various and distant regions, by which means incredible quantities of merchandize are transported upon this river.  There are about two hundred cities which participate in the advantages of this river, which runs through, or past, the boundaries of sixteen provinces.  The greatest commodity on this river is salt, with which all the provinces and cities which have communication with its water are supplied.  I, Marco, once saw at Singui five thousand vessels, yet some other cities on the river have a greater number.  All these ships are covered, having but one mast and one sail, and usually carry 4000 Venetian Canthari and upwards, some as far as 12,000.  In these vessels they use no cordage of hemp; even their hawsers or towing ropes being made of canes, about fifteen paces long, which they split into thin pieces from end to end, and bind or wreath together into ropes, some of which are three hundred fathoms long, and serve for dragging their vessels up or down the river; each vessel having ten or twelve horses for that purpose.  On that river there are rocky hillocks in many places, on which idol temples, with monasteries for the priests are built, and in all the course of the river we find cultivated vallies and habitations innumerable.

Cayn-gui is a small city on the same river to the south, eastwards of Sin-gui, where every year great quantities of corn and rice are brought, which is carried for the most part to Cambalu.  For from the Quiam or Kian-ku river, they pass to that city by means of lakes and rivers, and by one large canal, which the great khan caused to be made for a passage from one river to another; so that vessels go all the way from Mangi or Southern China to Cambalu, without ever being obliged to put to sea.  This great work is beautiful and wonderful for its size and vast extent, and is of infinite profit to the cities and provinces of the empire.  The khan likewise caused great causeways to be constructed along the banks of this prodigious canal, for the conveniency of travelling by land, and for towing the vessels.  In the middle of the great river there is a rocky island, with a great temple and monastery for the idolatrous priests.