Till the hsfablisfement of the preseaafr dytsas&yy ftefy
pr<^e©j^of;ffireiga conquests appear to have tefem':«ntir«
tained; to ‘C hina ■; anti it is still therera favouriieyHnrit i f
policyto -confine its subjectswithih thelimitsroftke empire.
They who.depart'from kmihantHsenjee are liaMe
ti<jijevere jmnisfaaents ©ntheir’retum.
The import an de^ however jo f the ^reat wall’of China
has in great measure- ceased, since the territories on each
side of it have been subjected 40; #!« same mcmarchs.
The Chinese, with whom-curiosity vanishes 'wi th ! the
nov^ky-of the oi^eet, look upon it now with perfect indifference
; and few’of the mandarines wHSmiigiihpa-
nied the’Embassy, seemed ’to pay the-lea^>:&k'en4jfoni?8t>
it. Yet th e appearance o f so vast a monumeht of human
industry has net daildd *to attract the noticeidf
r jaigtteFswho have crossed it On tReir-'mtrmed iMW&fca.
The first European who published knyfieoteht (id5 ifhai
empire' Marco P o lo h a s made/ <however, no mentroni&f
|he w all ; tfao, as hetravelled over fandifiOiiheibipitM'erf
China, it Was presurhed that h e rnust ’have-pass'ed't'O'it
through Taftary in some spot where theWall now stands.
From such silence some doubts have arfsen in “thef mind
of ra leaf ndd Italian, who has in coutempf&tion'to'ptfblMi
anew edition of Marco Polo’s Travels, whether the wall
was reallydn existence in the thirteenth centiny, when
that celebrated Venetian went to the court of the Tartar
sovereign of China. But the mere omission of that fact
.■^y him^epili^lit b.e made§0-weigb^!gai#Sf^ke^xistence
I lf it, when supported* b y the ■.same f^fcies»Mpo^it-i»v^
testimony, which is thofght all'? other inst>
a-ik|p$;i were■ , i t - t o b e ^ p p o s e d that MkMco Polo
had actually passedjayierThe^oiihd^i^hefEef tKe walhsub?
"sistyM^gesynt; and had given dolStei&pldtia^regulaf
ac^oytiS ol hisTravds'iinmedfaboly on his le'tuinV insVlTuT
of th^unconrieeted fragments which/'hy'daotat^dlEQngiar-'
• tehs^afeds? at -a! distancejTrom ■ his. ownirhSmejuandi^epa-
r#tejdls|.| he was probably, from■ tKbi notes.) taken ton the
spobiand oth^fh^iegiginal papers. A -e^pyfeiho^exlfef,*
of Margo PoIo’srqute^|hj GJakray.taken from fhe/.Boge’lMl-
braryiat Venice, insufficient.tq^ddoidrefthisquestion:.By*
this route it appears that,- in fa'cty ihafalrayeiler did hot
pas^s throughs^rtary to Pekin,?;but^a^ajlef Kjsvi^gdol>‘
lowed1 the usual track u f the caravans ,aas|faƒ to thRaft-*
ward from EuropeasfSamarcand and CasRgar, he Bent*
his-course to', the south-east -adossedferiveri Gang^fftb’
Bengal; and, keeping to' the^southwardnoff-the Thibet
mountains, v reached the' Ghmese^provincd ofrSladns^e',*
and: through the adjoining; province;pfShashls^tbithe
pital, without interfering! with the lineito’^the great Waft?
• T h e present travellers approachfeHithewall by a-%tebp!
ascent, until they camestdiwhat wass called" the southern'
gate, in reference to an outer one mbf© northerly, on the
side of Taftary. This. Southern .gate «was* thrown, across
v o l . i r . ' T - A a
^iew of the'
great Wall.