Marco Polo in Central Asia: 20: The City of Sapurgan

When a man departs from that Castle he rides through beautiful hills covered with rich herbage, with fruits and all things in great abundance.  The country extends to a journey of six days and contains cities the inhabitants of which adores Mohammed. Yet sometimes you find a desert of fifty or sixty miles, without water, which the traveller must carry themselves.  When the traveller has rode six days through the country now described he finds a city called Sapurgan.[1]  It has great abundance of all things, among which are the finest melons in the world in plenty, and they are preserved in this manner:  The people cut them all round like cucumbers, and dry them in the sun, when they become sweeter than honey, they are sold throughout the country.  Beasts and birds are hunted here. Now I will go on to another city named Balk.

Note:-
1. Sapurgan: Modern day Mazar - I- Sharif in Afghanistan 

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