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APPENDIX.
from the lamp of our Saviour, in Jerusalem, which he concluded must have marvelous virtues.
It has been supposed, and with great reason, that
under this covert of religion, the shrewd Tartar sovereign veiled motives of a political nature.
T h e influence of the pope in promoting the crusades
had caused his power to be known and respected throughout the East ; it was of some moment, therefore, to conciliate his good will.
Cublai Khan
had no bigotry nor devotion to any particular faith, and probably hoped, by adopting Christianity to make it a common cause between himself and the warlike princes of Christendom, against his and their inveterate ene mies, the soldan of Egypt and the Saracens. Having written letters to the pope in the Tartar language, he de livered them to the Polos, and appointed one of the principal noblemen of his court to accompany them in their mission.
O n their taking leave he
furnished them with a tablet of gold on which was engraved the royal arms ; this was to serve as a passport, at sight of which the governors of the various provinces were to entertain them, to furnish them with escorts through dangerous places, and render them all other necessary services at the expense of the Great Khan. T h e y had scarce proceeded twenty miles, when the nobleman who ac companied them fell ill, and they were obliged to leave him, and continue on their route.
Their golden passport procured them every attention and
facility throughout the dominions of the Great Khan. at Acre, in April, 1 2 6 9 .
They arrived safely
Here they received news of the recent death of
pope Clement I V , at which they were much grieved, fearing it would cause delay in their mission.
There was at that time in Acre a legate of
the holy chair, Tebaldo di Vesconti, of Placentia, to whom they gave an account of their embassy.
H e heard them with great attention and
interest, and advised them to await the election of a new pope, which must soon take place, before they proceeded to Rome on their mission. They determined in the interim to make a visit to their families, and ac cordingly departed for Negropont, and thence to Venice, where great changes had taken place in their domestic concerns, during their long absence.
T h e wife of Nicholas, whom he had left pregnant, had died, in
giving birth to a son, who had been named Marco. A s the contested election for the new pontiff remained pending for two years, they were uneasy, lest the emperor of Tartary should grow im patient at so long a postponement of the conversion of himself and his people ; they determined, therefore, not to wait the election of a pope, but to proceed to Acre, and get such dispatches and such ghostly ministry for