se to the wild tribes of Yun-nan." Does not this look as if
_Kolo_ were really the old name, _Luluh_ or Lolo the later?

CHAPTER LIX.

CONCERNING THE PROVINCE OF CUIJU.

Cuiju is a province towards the East.[NOTE 1] After leaving Coloman you
travel along a river for 12 days, meeting with a good number of towns and
villages, but nothing worthy of particular mention. After you have
travelled those twelve days along the river you come to a great and noble
city which is called FUNGUL.

The people are Idolaters and subject to the Great Kaan, and live by trade
and handicrafts. You must know they manufacture stuffs of the bark of
certain trees which form very fine summer clothing.[NOTE 2] They are good
soldiers, and have paper-money. For you must understand that henceforward
we are in the countries where the Great Kaan's paper-money is current.

[Illustration: The Koloman after a Chinese drawing

"Coloman est une provence vers levant
El sunt mult belles jens et ne
sunt mie bien blances mes biunz
El sunt bien homes d'armes"]

The country swarms with lions to that degree that no man can venture to
sleep outside his house at night.[NOTE 3] Moreover, when you travel on
that river, and come to a halt at night, unless you keep a good way from
the bank the lions will spring on the boat and snatch one of the crew and
make off with him and devour him. And but for a certain help that the
inhabitants enjoy, no one could venture to travel in that province,
because of the multitude of those lions, and because of their strength and
ferocity.

But you see they have in this province a large breed of dogs, so fierce
and bold that two of them together will attack a lion.[NOTE 4] So every
man who goes a journey takes with him a couple of those dogs, and when a
lion appears they have at him with the greatest boldness, and the lion
turns on them, but can't touch them for they are very deft at eschewing
his blows. So they follow him, perpetually giving tongue, and watching
their chance to give him a bite in the rump or in the thigh, or wherever
they may. The lion makes no reprisal except now and then to turn fiercely
on them, and then indeed were he to catch the dogs it would be all over
with them, but they take good care that he shall not. So, to escape the
dogs' din, the lion makes off, and gets into the wood, where mayhap he
stands at bay against a tree to have his rear protected from their
annoyance. And when the t