MARCO
POLO
When
a man is riding through this desert by night and for some reason -falling
asleep or anything else -he gets separated from his companions and wants to
rejoin them, he hears spirit voices talking to him as if they were his
companions, sometimes even calling him by name. Often these voices lure him
away from the path and he never finds it again, and many travelers have got
lost and died because of this. Sometimes in the night travelers hear a noise
like the clatter of a great company of riders away from the road; if they
believe that these are some of their own company and head for the noise, they
find themselves in deep trouble when daylight comes and they realize their
mistake. There were some who, in crossing the desert, have been a host of men
coming towards them and, suspecting that they were robbers, returning, they
have gone hopelessly astray....Even by daylight men hear these spirit voices,
and often you fancy you are listening to the strains of many instruments,
especially drums, and the clash of arms. For this reason bands of travelers
make a point of keeping very close together. Before they go to sleep they set
up a sign pointing in the direction in which they have to travel, and round the
necks of all their beasts they fasten little bells, so that by listening to the
sound they may prevent them from straying off the path."
---- Marco
Polo, Travels
Marco Polo
(1254-1324), is probably the most famous Westerner traveled on the Silk Road.
He excelled all the other travelers in his determination, his writing, and his
influence. His journey through Asia lasted 24 years. He reached further than
any of his predecessors, beyond Mongolia to China. He became a confidant of
Kublai Khan (1214-1294). He traveled the whole of China and returned to tell
the tale, which became the greatest travelogue. 
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