62. Grandfather of King Robert Bruce, of Scotland.
63. The military tenants were ordered under the penalty of felony to bring into the field not only the force specified by their tenures, but all the horsemen and infantry in their power: every township was compelled to send eight, six, or four footmen well armed with lances, bows and arrows, swords, crossbows, and hatchets, who should serve forty days at the expense of the township; and the cities and burghs received orders to furnish as many horsemen and footmen as the sheriff might appoint. No excuse was to be allowed on account of the shortness of the time, the approach of the harvest, or any other private inconvenience.
64. It is amusing to compare the opposite writers of this period. Wikes and the letter-writer in Westminster are royalists, and severely censure the ambition and treason of Leicester, but, in the estimation of the chroniclers of Dunstable and of Waverly, he lived a saint and died a martyr.
65. By these we are to understand Northern and Southern China, separated by the great Hoang-ho on the eastern, and by the southern limits of Shen-si on the western side.
66. This conduct toward the professors of the several systems of faith is perfectly consistent with the character of Kublai, in which policy was the leading feature. It was his object to keep in good humor all classes of his subjects, and especially those of the capital or about the court, by indulging them in the liberty of following unmolested their own religious tenets, and by flattering each with the idea of possessing his special protection. Many of the highest offices, both civil and military, were held by Mahometans.
67. Neither do those who profess the Mussulman faith regard Mahomet as a divinity, nor do the Jews so regard Moses; but it is not to be expected that a Tartar emperor should make very accurate theological distinctions.
68. This word, probably much corrupted by transcribers, must be intended for one of the numerous titles of Buddha.
69. The saggio of Venice being equal to the sixth part of an ounce,
these consequently weighed twenty ounces, and the others in
proportion up to fifty ounces.
70. In many parts of the East, the parasol or umbrella with a long
handle, borne by an attendant, is a mark of high distinction, and
even denotes sovereignty when of a particular color.
71. This is Polo's name for Kublai's capital—Khan-Balig ("the Khan's city")—the Chinese Peking, captured by the Mongols in 1215. In 1264 Kublai made it his chief residence, and in 1267 he built a new city—Marco Polo's Tai-du, more properly Ta-tu—a little to the northeast of the old one.