venient, is
at the fortress of Taiching-kwan, locally pronounced _Taigin_-kwan. This
fortress, or rather fortified camp, is a very well-known place, and to be
found on native maps; it is very close to the river, on the left bank,
about 6 m. S.W. of P'u-chau fu. The road runs hence to Tung-chau fu and
thence to Si-ngan fu. T'aiching-kwan could not possibly (at Polo's rate) be
reached in 2 days from P'ing-yang fu.

"_Caichu_. If this reading be adopted Marsden may be right in supposing
_Kiai-chau_, locally _Khaidju_, to be meant. This city dominates the
important salt marsh, whence Shan-si and Shen-si are supplied with salt. It
is 70 or 80 m. from P'ing-yang fu, but _could_ be reached in 2 days. It
commands a large and tolerably populous plain, and is quite fit to have
been an imperial residence.

"May not the striking fact that there is a place corresponding to either
name suggest that one of them was passed by Polo in going, the other in
returning? and that, this being the only locality between Ch'eng-tu fu and
Chu-chau where there was any deviation between the two journeys, his
geographical ideas may have become somewhat confused, as might now happen
to any one in like case and not provided with a map? Thus the traveller
himself might have put into Ramusio's text the name of _Thaigin_ instead of
_Caichu_. From Kiai-chau he would probably cross the River at T'ungkwan,
whilst in returning by way of Taiching-kwan he would pass through
P'uchau-fu (or _vice versa_). The question as to Caichu may still be
settled, as it must be possible to ascertain where the Kin resided."[2]

[Mr. Rockhill writes (_Land of the Lamas_, p. 17): "One hundred and twenty
_li_ south-south-west of the city is Kiai Chou, with the largest salt
works in China." Richthofen has estimated that about 150,000 tons of salt
are produced annually from the marshes around it.--H.C.]

NOTE 3.--The eight days' journey through richly cultivated plains run up
the basin of the Wei River, the most important agricultural region of
North-West China, and the core of early Chinese History. The _loess_ is
here more than ever predominant, its yellow tinge affecting the whole
landscape, and even the atmosphere. Here, according to Baron v.
Richthofen, originated the use of the word _hwang_ "yellow," as the symbol
of the Earth, whence the primeval emperors were styled _Hwang-ti_, "Lord
of the Earth," but properly "Lord of the _Loess_."

[The Rev. C. Holcombe (l.c. p. 66)