neath the sea and concealed from view; therefore that sea is, at present, neither passable nor to be traced out, being blocked up with a great depth of mud made by the sunken island." It is, of course, somewhat difficult to assert that Plato's narrations have at the bottom no truth whatever; at the same time, persons acquainted to any extent with the ancient writers must know that the geological facts as to the floors and elevations of the sea which are now known to us were not at Plato's disposal. It is possible that Phoenician or other sailors may have got as far into the Atlantic as the region of marine vegetation known as the Sargossa Sea, which it has been estimated extends over an area six times as large as France. This area of water is covered with a mass of gulf seaweed which is growing upon the surface, and to mariners of Plato's period, if by any chance they ever ventured so far, it might have been accepted as evidence that there existed a mass of slime which would render the ocean impassable. A slight knowledge of the works of ancient writers will prove that they were given to romance in their descriptions of far-off regions, and more especially when they wrote of persons or of events appertaining to localities whose existence savoured of the mythical, or to lands which were so far distant that the truth or otherwise could not be ascertained.1

had begotten, and, addressing himself to the eldest of the gods, said, "Thou, of whom I am sprung, and you ancient gods, behold the men who have been begotten by me! They speak words against me. Tell me what you would do in this crisis. Behold, I have waited, and I have not destroyed them before having heard your counsel." (A chapter of the so-called sacred books of Tahout.)

1 Before leaving the story of Poseidon, or Neptune, it may be here mentioned that from time to time coins of the very earliest times have

We have given some of the ancient ideas as to the Atlantic Ocean. It is now proposed to make reference to certain matters which influenced the citizens of the maritime republics, particularly those of Venice and Genoa, in their desire to find a sea route to the lands of the Grand Khan, and which ultimately ended in the conception that it would be possible to reach the rich Asiatic kingdom by sailing towards the west in the unknown waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The rumours and conversational descriptions as to the vast wealth-the gold, the precious stones, the spices, and other valuable productions-of "the Golden East" seem to have made an impression at a very early period upon the imaginative Venetians,

been discovered in various parts of the Bristol River. The immense number of coins found, together with the great age of many of them, have suggested to many minds the possibility that they came into the river, not by accident, but by design. Many persons believe, rightly or wrongly, that in ancient times there existed a custom among the sailors of casting a coin into the river either at the commencement or at the termination of a voyage. Rev. Father Grant, S.J., formerly of Bristol, during the time he remained in the city, made a very considerable collection of coins brought to him by men who from time to time were employed in the river, and from casual finds made by men and boys at the culvert in the Bristol harbour, where the dredging machines deposit the mud. Having regard to the unusual variety of these coins, and to the fact that so many of them belong to maritime nations, it certainly seems difficult to believe that they originally got into the river as the result of accident. Father Grant seems inclined to conclude that the presence of the coins is due to a survival of a custom which existed in olden times of propitiating Neptune. The silly story of a certain person having been thrown into the sea, and afterwards found in a whale's belly, is considered by many to have had its origin in the ancient idea of the necessity of propitiating the spirit of the storm by some offering, whether of human life or otherwise. Father Grant, in the course of a lecture given by him in the year 1883, says: "Everything about the sea and sailors has a character of unchangeableness. When heathenism was abolished, the Church could not at once abolish old habits. . . . The feasts of Neptune were on the 23rd and 24th June. I cannot help thinking that the custom of two thousand years ago and more, of throwing money to

to whom, in common with the other maritime States, the enterprise and the activity of the Phoenicians had descended. They were dazzled by the stories, probably combinations of fact and fiction, of the pomp and profusion at the Courts of Eastern potentates (more particularly that of the Great Kaan or Grand Caan, otherwise the "Grand Khan"), which had been gathered in the course of their intercourse with the people of Constantinople and with the travellers from far-off lands who came thither for the purposes of trading. But the difficulties connected with the long and tedious journeys to those distant territories were insuperable, so far as they would allow of a profitable intercourse. Still, the obvious fact that those who should be the first to establish direct Neptune for a good fortune, may have survived until even the days of 'The Merchant Venturers' of this country. You may proscribe and abolish an Act, you cannot so easily eradicate a national habit. The people will have their customs in spite of Acts of Parliament, and in spite even of the Christian Church. Neptune comes as a sailor dressed up as Neptune when vessels cross the line, and levies 'blackmail' in a manner that would do honour to 'el Barbiere de Seviglia.' Mr. A. T. Martin, F.S.A., of Bristol, in the course of a paper read by him, November 22, 1894, as to a large number of coins found in the mud dredged up in the Bristol River, which were then in the possession of Mr. M'Currick, our docks engineer, says: "These coins are by no means the only ones that have been found in this way, as others have already passed into different hands. It will be noticed that the period covered by this list extends from the earliest to the present times, and that it includes examples of the coinage of various foreign countries, and affords a striking testimony to the antiquity and importance of the trade of our ancient city. The number and variety of the coins which have been from time to time found in our harbour is somewhat remarkable, and may possibly be accounted for by a habit, which I am told still prevails among sailors, of propitiating the Fates by throwing a coin into the water at the beginning of the voyage. But whether these coins are offerings to Neptune, or whether their presence in the river is due only to the proverbial carelessness of sailors, we must at anyrate thank our kindly river mud, which has preserved them all these years and returned them to us again full of interest and importance."

commercial relationships with the Tartarian countries would succeed in obtaining an enormous profit, caused the Venetians and others to endeavour to ascertain whether it would be possible to establish a quicker or more continuous caravan service, combined with greater facilities for the necessary carriage by water, at those points where water-carriage became a necessity.

Going back to the eleventh century, we find that Venice had gained a high position among the nations of the world, owing to the wealth that had accrued to her from the traffic with those remote Eastern parts, with which for a long period, and only by indirect means, her citizens had been brought into communication. After the conquest of Constantinople and the Greek provinces by the united forces of the French and the Venetians in the early part of the thirteenth century, a very large share of the conquered territory came under the control and influence of the Republic of Venice. Prior to that conquest, Constantinople was superior to Venice in the world of commerce, and the desire to humiliate a rival was an important factor in the proceedings which led to the conquest, a record of which exploit may be seen by every visitor to Venice who glances at the four exquisite horses that are to be seen on the façade of the magnificent Church of St. Mark.1 As a consequence of the victory, Venice was represented at Constantinople by a magistrate or regent, and between the two places a very thriving and lucrative trade was established. And as a further consequence,

1 As it will appear hereafter that John Cabot placed the banner of St. Mark on the land found by him, it is perhaps desirable to mention that St. Mark was the patron saint of Venice.

an increasing trade was carried on between Constantinople and the distant eastern territories, vid Egypt and Syria, the greater share of the profits falling into Venetian hands. From this period may be traced that keen rivalry which subsequently ended in a racial struggle for maritime supremacy between Venice and Genoa. This struggle eventually became so fierce that it was no longer safe for the trading vessels of either of the two republics to proceed to sea without a convoy.

Amongst the first to exhibit a curiosity to visit the Courts of the Tartarian potentates were two Venetians named Maffio Polo, a bachelor, and his brother, Nicolo, a married man. The Polos were a family of considerable importance in Venice. The father's name was Andrea Polo da S. Felice, and the family was believed to be of Dalmatian extraction. About the year 1254 (some say 1255) they set out upon a journey, and proceeded at first to Constantinople for the purpose of disposing of a large stock of merchandise which they took with them. As the wife of Nicolo was enceinte she was left behind. It will be seen hereafter why this fact is here mentioned. At Constantinople, after disposing of their goods, they obtained information as to the existence of certain markets for the sale of some very valuable articles, which prompted them to proceed at first to the residence of Barkah, the brother or the son of Baatu, who was related to Jengiz-Khan, whose places of residence were Saraï and Bolghar, well known to the geographers of the Middle Ages.

At this period occasional visits had been made by traders to the Courts of some of the princes of the race of Jengiz. Subsequently, after leaving the