Travels Of Marco Polo: Sixty Six

Cyn- gui is a province situated towards the east.  When a man leaves Tholoman, he goes twelve days along a river, where there are towns and castles, but nothing else worth mentioning.  At the end of these twelve days, he finds the city Singul, very large and noble.  The inhabitants are all idolators, and subject to the great Khan.  They live by merchandise and and arts, weave cloth by the bark of the trees, which make fine summer dresses.  They are good men at arms; but they have no money except paper.  There are in this country so many lions, that if a man were to sleep out of doors, he would be presently be killed and eaten by them; and at night when a bark sail along the river, if it were not kept at a distance from the bank, they would rush in and carry off the crew.  However, though these animals be so large and dangerous, the natives have a wonderful manner of defending themselves; for the dogs of that country are so daring that they will assualt a large one, and, seconded by a man, will kill him.

I will tell you how: when a man is on horseback with two of these dogs, as soon as they see a lion, they throw behind him, and bite his thigh and body.  The lion turns furiously round, but they wheel about him so swiftly, that, that he cannot reach them.  He then retreats till he comes to a tree, against which he places his back, and turns his face to the dogs; but they continue always biting him from behind, and the man discharges arrows without ceasing, till the animal falls down dead, and thus one

man and two spirited dogs are sufficient to kill a large lion.  The inhabitants of this province had a good deal of silk, and a great trade is carried on to all quarters along the river.

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