You see the King of this Province, in the days of old, when he found himself drawing near to death, leaving three sons behind him, commanded that the city should be divided into three parts, and that each of his three sons should have one.  So each of these three parts is separately walled about, though all three are surrounded by the common wall of the city.  Each of the three sons was King, having his own part of the city, and his own share of the kingdom, and each of them in fact was a great and wealthy King.  But the Great Kaan conquered the kingdom of these three Kings, and stripped them of their inheritance.[NOTE 1]

Through the midst of this great city runs a large river, in which they catch a great quantity of fish.  It is a good half mile wide, and very deep withal, and so long that it reaches all the way to the Ocean Sea,—­a very long way, equal to 80 or 100 days’ journey.  And the name of the River is KIAN-SUY.  The multitude of vessels that navigate this river is so vast, that no one who should read or hear the tale would believe it.  The quantities of merchandize also which merchants carry up and down this river are past all belief.  In fact, it is so big, that it seems to be a Sea rather than a River![NOTE 2]

Let us now speak of a great Bridge which crosses this River within the city.  This bridge is of stone; it is seven paces in width and half a mile in length (the river being that much in width as I told you); and all along its length on either side there are columns of marble to bear the roof, for the bridge is roofed over from end to end with timber, and that all richly painted.  And on this bridge there are houses in which a great deal of trade and industry is carried on.  But these houses are all of wood merely, and they are put up in the morning and taken down in the evening.  Also there stands upon the bridge the Great Kaan’s Comercque, that is to say, his custom-house, where his toll and tax are levied.[NOTE 3] And I can tell you that the dues taken on this bridge bring to the Lord a thousand pieces of fine gold every day and more.  The people are all Idolaters.[NOTE 4]

When you leave this city you travel for five days across a country of plains and valleys, finding plenty of villages and hamlets, and the people of which live by husbandry.  There are numbers of wild beasts, lions, and bears, and such like.

I should have mentioned that the people of Sindu itself live by manufactures, for they make fine sendals and other stuffs.[NOTE 5]

After travelling those five days’ march, you reach a province called Tebet, which has been sadly laid waste; we will now say something of it.

NOTE 1.—­We are on firm ground again, for SINDAFU is certainly CH’ENG-TU FU, the capital of Sze-ch’wan.  Probably the name used by Polo was Sindu-fu, as we find Sindu in the G.T. near the end of the chapter.  But the same city is, I observe, called Thindafu by one of the Nepalese embassies, whose itineraries Mr. Hodgson has given in the J.A.S.B. XXV. 488.