Travels Of Marco Polo: Sixty Eight

From Gingui a man travels four days finding a variety of cities and castles. The people are great artificers and merchants, subject to the mighty Khan, and use paper money.  At the end of four days you come to Cacianfu, a large and noble city lying to the south in the province of Cathay.  The inhabitants are subject to the same monarch, all are idolators, and burn the bodies of their dead.  They have a good supply of silk, which they make into different kinds of cloth.  A large river flows past it, along which a great abundance of merchandise is conveyed to Kambalu, with which it is made to communicate by the digging of many canals.  Now, let us pass to another city called Cianglu.  The natives are idolators, subject to the Khan, use paper money, and burn the bodies of their dead.  In that city, the salt is made very extensively, and I will tell you how.  There is a species of earth full of it, and they pile it up in heaps, upon which they throw a great quantity of water to saturate it with the mineral.  They, then boil it in large cauldrons of iron, till it evaporates, and leaves a white and minute salt, which is exported to all countries round.  Five days journey from Cianglu is Ciangli, where are many cities and castles.  It is a town of Cathay, and the whole people are idolators, subject to the great Khan, and use paper money.  Through the middle of that territory flows a great river on which is conveyed much merchandise of various kinds.

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