PART II.
ACROSS THE HEART OF CHINA
"The principal advantage of travel must be the opportunity which it affords us of becoming acquainted with human nature; knowledge, of course, chiefly gained where human beings most congregate—great cities and the courts of princes: still, one of its great benefits is that it enlarges a man's experience, not only of his fellow-creatures in particular, but of nature in general. Many men pass through life without seeing a sunrise; a traveller cannot."
"Through the midst of this great city [Ch'êngtu] runs a large river. It is a good half-mile wide, and very deep withal, and so long that it reaches all the way to the Ocean Sea—a very long way, equal to 80 or 100 days' journey. And the name of the river is Kian-suy. The multitude of vessels that navigate this river is so vast, that no one who should read or hear the tale would believe it. The quantities of merchandise also which merchants carry up and down this river are past all belief. In fact, it is so big that it seems to be a sea rather than a river!"—The Book of Ser Marco Polo.
