anslated by me into Latin out of the Lombardic Vernacular. Having
gained the notice of the Emperor himself and become attached to his
service, he passed nearly 27 years in the Tartar countries."[5]

Again we have that mention of Marco by Friar Jacopo d'Acqui, which we have
quoted in connection with his capture by the Genoese, at p. 54.[6] And the
Florentine historian GIOVANNI VILLANI,[7] when alluding to the Tartars,
says:--

"Let him who would make full acquaintance with their history examine the
book of Friar Hayton, Lord of Colcos in Armenia, which he made at the
instance of Pope Clement V., and also the Book called _Milione_ which
was made by Messer Marco Polo of Venice, who tells much about their
power and dominion, having spent a long time among them. And so let us
quit the Tartars and return to our subject, the History of Florence."[8]

[Sidenote: Further contemporary references.]

77. Lastly, we learn from a curious passage in a medical work by PIETRO OF
ABANO, a celebrated physician and philosopher, and a man of Polo's own
generation, that he was personally acquainted with the Traveller. In a
discussion on the old notion of the non-habitability of the Equatorial
regions, which Pietro controverts, he says:[9]

[Illustration: Star at the Antarctic as sketched by Marco Polo[10].]

"In the country of the ZINGHI there is seen a star as big as a sack. I
know a man who has seen it, and he told me it had a faint light like a
piece of a cloud, and is always in the south.[11] I have been told of
this and other matters by MARCO the Venetian, the most extensive
traveller and the most diligent inquirer whom I have ever known. He saw
this same star under the Antarctic; he described it as having a great
tail, and drew a figure of it _thus_. He also told me that he saw the
Antarctic Pole at an altitude above the earth apparently equal to the
length of a soldier's lance, whilst the Arctic Pole was as much below
the horizon. 'Tis from that place, he says, that they export to us
camphor, lign-aloes, and brazil. He says the heat there is intense, and
the habitations few. And these things he witnessed in a certain island
at which he arrived by Sea. He tells me also that there are (wild?) men
there, and also certain very great rams that have very coarse and stiff
wool just like the bristles of our pigs."[12]

In addition to these five I know no other contemporary references to Polo,