Page 128 - English Expedition Class 6

17

Marco Polo and the Indian Pearls

Marco Polo

Do you enjoy travelling and writing about what you see on your travels? The accounts of some
well-known travellers have fascinated readers for many centuries. One of the most famous of these
travellers was Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant and adventurer who travelled from Europe to Asia
1
and lived in China for seventeen years.
Given below is his account of pearl fi shing as practised in those days in the Gulf of Mannar, something
he saw on his return voyage from China to Europe.

2
eaving the island of Seilan , and sailing
sixty miles in a westerly direction , you • In which part of modern India was
3
4
Lreach the great province of Maabar . Th is the province of Maabar located?
is not an island, but a part of the greater India, • What is the gulf between Maabar
on the mainland. Th e province is the fi nest and and the island of Seilan called today?
noblest in the world. • What was the reputation of the
You must know that in this province there are province of Maabar?
fi ve kings, who are brothers. At this end of the • Are the waters very deep in the place
province reigns one of those fi ve royal brothers where pearl fi shing takes place?
and his name is Sonder Bandi Davar [Sundara • What properties do the pearls
Pandi Devar]. In his kingdom they fi nd very obtained from this gulf have?
fi ne and great pearls; and I will tell you how they
are got.
You must know that the sea here forms a gulf between the island of Seilan and the mainland.
5
And all around this gulf the water has a depth of no more than ten or twelve fathoms , and in some
places no more than two fathoms. Th e pearl-fi shers take their vessels, great and small, and proceed
into this gulf, where they stop from the beginning of April till the middle of May. About sixty miles
into the gulf, they cast anchor and shift from their large vessels into small boats. You must know
that the many merchants who go divide into various companies and each of these must engage a

1 4
Venetian: of the city of Venice in Italy Maabar: Ma’abar, the name given to the areas of the
2
Seilan: the country of Ceylon, today known as Sri Lanka Coromandel Coast by the Arabs
3 5
westerly direction: towards the west fathom (n): a unit used to measure the depth of water,
equal to six feet
118