CHAPTER XXIX

TRAVEL AND DISCOVERY

Marco Polo, a famous traveller, was born in the City of Venice in 1254, eleven years before the birth of Dante. Dante belonged to Florence: so Marco Polo and Dante both were Italians. Marco Polo's father and uncle were trading merchants. They travelled by ship and overland to sell their goods, and they were probably among the first Europeans to visit the kingdom of China, even yet a mysterious, strange part of the world to us. When Marco was seventeen years old, his father and uncle took him with them on one of their expeditions. He was away from Italy twenty-six years. In that time, he saw many marvels, became a favourite of the great emperor Kublai Khan, and had more astonishing adventures, almost, than we can imagine. He came back safely to Italy, but was thrown into prison in Genoa; you remember that these cities of what is now Italy were often at war with one another. When Marco Polo was in prison, he told some of his adventures to a fellow-prisoner, and this man induced Marco Polo to write a book. Polo dictated what he wished to say, and Rustician wrote it down.

Marco Polo's book, _The Travels of Marco Polo_, has had a considerable effect on the history of the world. Columbus used to read it, and often quoted {203} what Marco Polo said. It is likely, almost certain, that Polo's example and success helped to inspire Columbus to make his great voyage to the Western hemisphere.

We can judge how interesting and delightful Marco Polo's book is from a brief extract which contains the description of a hill that the Emperor Kublai Khan had had made and planted with trees:

"Moreover, on the north side of the Palace, about a bow-shot off, there is a hill which has been made by art from the earth dug out of the lake; it is a good hundred paces in height and a mile in compass. This hill is entirely covered with trees that never lose their leaves, but remain ever green. And I assure you that wherever a beautiful tree may exist, and the Emperor gets news of it, he sends for it and has it transported bodily with all its roots and the earth attached to them, and planted on that hill of his. No matter how big the tree may be, he gets it carried by his elephants; and in this way he has got together the most beautiful collection of trees in all the world. And he has also caused the whole hill to be covered with the ore of azure, which is very green. And thus not only are the trees all green, but the hill itself is all green likewise; and there is nothing to be seen on it that is not green."

Cook's _Voyages_ is another famous book of exploration. James Cook was born in 1728 and was the son of a farm labourer. As a boy, he was apprenticed first to a shopkeeper, then to a shipowner. He entered the King's service in 1755. The accounts of his voyages, or explorations, to {204} the North and West, South and East, in the days when comparatively little was known of the seas in which he sailed, are as interesting and exciting as a story. His first expedition South was to observe the transit of Venus, when he was in command of the _Endeavour_. On this expedition he visited New Zealand and Australia. His next voyage, when he also visited the Pacific, was with the _Resolution_ and the _Adventure_. On his second expedition he discovered the Sandwich Islands. He sailed for nearly four thousand miles along the western coast of North America, searching for a north-west passage, on his third expedition. His ships were the _Resolution_ and the _Discovery_. The _Discovery_ is perhaps the best known ship in which Cook sailed. The purpose of all his expeditions was largely scientific. On his last voyage, Cook lost his life. It has been said that his best memorial is the map of the Pacific.

Captain Cook wrote in a very simple, natural style. Here is a description of some of the people he saw, on the way to the place which he named Poverty Bay. We can almost imagine that we might have been on the ship with Captain Cook, or venturing ashore, not at all certain what the unknown inhabitants of unknown islands might not do to us. The paragraph is taken from the account of his first expedition:

"In the evening, the weather having become fair and moderate, the boats were again ordered out, and I landed, accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander. We were received with great expressions of friendship by the natives, who behaved with a scrupulous attention not to give {205} offence. In particular, they took care not to appear in great bodies: one family, or the inhabitants of two or three houses only, were generally placed together, to the number of fifteen or twenty, consisting of men, women, and children. These little companies sat upon the ground, not advancing towards us, but inviting us to them, by a kind of beckon, moving one hand towards the breast. We made them several little presents; and in our walk round the bay found two small streams of fresh water. This convenience, and the friendly behaviour of the people, determined me to stay at least a day, that I might fill some of my empty casks, and give Mr. Banks an opportunity of examining the natural produce of the country."

Captain Cook and his people were often in danger from the anger of the strange tribes they met, but we can have only admiration for the gentle behaviour of the people whose home Cook visited on this occasion, as described in his account of the expedition. There are many dramatic scenes in Cook's _Voyages_. Captain Cook was not only brave, he had extraordinary perseverance.

Many of us find stories of travels, discoveries and explorations among the most interesting books in the world. We travel, too, with the great explorers, by means of these books, and have a share in their dangers, escapes, and discoveries. Explorers are always courageous, and often men of noble character. A few women have been noted explorers, but only a few, partly because travelling alone and in danger, is more difficult for a woman than for a man. Miss Mary Kingsley is {206} one of these notable exceptions. Here are the names of a few books of travel and discovery, old and new: _How I Found Livingstone in Central Africa_, by Henry M. Stanley; Sir Richard Burton's _Pilgrimage to Mecca_; _Travels in West Africa_, by Mary H. Kingsley; the _Journals_ of Captain R. F. Scott, the explorer who reached the South Pole to find that the Danes, led by Amundsen, had been a few days before him, the account is often called _Scott's Last Expedition_, a very noble book; and a fascinating volume by T. E. Lawrence, _Revolt in the Desert_. The discoverer of the Mississippi was La Salle. We may read of him in Parkman. Two books of early travels in Canada are Sir Alexander Mackenzie's _Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America_, and Alexander Henry's _Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories_.

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PART VII

ESSAYS, CRITICISMS, LETTERS, DIARIES

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