The hypothesis that I have suggested would suit better with the traveller’s representation of the country traversed as wild and uninhabited.  In a journey to Great Pagan the most populous and fertile part of Burma would be passed through.

[Baber writes (p. 180):  “The generally received theory that ’the great descent which leads towards the Kingdom of Mien,’ on which ’you ride for two days and a half continually downhill,’ was the route from Yung-ch’ang to T’eng-Yueh, must be at once abandoned.  Marco was, no doubt, speaking from hearsay, or rather, from a recollection of hearsay, as it does not appear that he possessed any notes; but there is good reason for supposing that he had personally visited Yung-ch’ang.  Weary of the interminable mountain-paths, and encumbered with much baggage—­for a magnate of Marco’s court influence could never, in the East, have travelled without a considerable state—­impeded, in addition, by a certain quantity of merchandise, for he was ‘discreet and prudent in every way,’ he would have listened longingly to the report of an easy ride of two and a half days downhill, and would never have forgotten it.  That such a route exists I am well satisfied.  Where is it?  The stream which drains the Yung-ch’ang plain communicates with the Salwen by a river called the ‘Nan-tien,’ not to be confounded with the ‘Nan-ting,’ about 45 miles south of that city, a fair journey of two and a half days.  Knowing, as we now do, that it must descend some 3500 feet in that distance, does it not seem reasonable to suppose that the valley of this rivulet is the route alluded to?  The great battle on the Yung-ch’ang plain, moreover, was fought only a few years before Marco’s visit, and seeing that the king and his host of elephants in all probability entered the valley from the south, travellers to Burma would naturally have quitted it by the same route.

“But again, our mediaeval Herodotus reports that ’the country is wild and hard of access, full of great woods and mountains which ’tis impossible to pass, the air is so impure and unwholesome; and any foreigners attempting it would die for certain.’

“This is exactly and literally the description given us of the district in which we crossed the Salwen.

“To insist on the theory of the descent by this route is to make the traveller ride downhill, ‘over mountains it is impossible to pass.’

“The fifteen days’ subsequent journey described by Marco need not present much difficulty.  The distance from the junction of the Nan-tien with the Salwen to the capital of Burma (Pagan) would be something over 300 miles; fifteen days seems a fair estimate for the distance, seeing that a great part of the journey would doubtless be by boat.”

Regarding this last paragraph, Captain Gill says (II. 345):  “An objection may be raised that no such route as this is known to exist; but it must be remembered that the Burmese capital changes its position every now and then, and it is obvious that the trade routes would be directed to the capital, and would change with it.  Altogether, with the knowledge at present available, this certainly seems the most satisfactory interpretation of the old traveller’s story.”—­H.C.]