The story of Columbus . GATE OF PEKIN. THE STORY OF COLUMBUS. CHAPTER I. MAKCO POLO. 125Jk-132Jt. In tlie middle ages people had never dreamedabout such a place as America. To them the knownworld consisted of Europe, part of Asia, and a littlestrip of Africa. The first man to help people to knowmore about the world and to make them wish to knowstill more was a Yenetian gentleman, named MarcoPolo, who lived two hundred years before enough, Marco Polo did something towardthe discovery of America, though he journeyed by THE STORY OF COLUMBUS. land rather than by sea, and travel
The story of Columbus . GATE OF PEKIN. THE STORY OF COLUMBUS. CHAPTER I. MAKCO POLO. 125Jk-132Jt. In tlie middle ages people had never dreamedabout such a place as America. To them the knownworld consisted of Europe, part of Asia, and a littlestrip of Africa. The first man to help people to knowmore about the world and to make them wish to knowstill more was a Yenetian gentleman, named MarcoPolo, who lived two hundred years before enough, Marco Polo did something towardthe discovery of America, though he journeyed by THE STORY OF COLUMBUS. land rather than by sea, and traveled to the East in-stead of to the West. When Marco Polo was born (about 1254) hisfather and uncle, Nicolo and Maffeo Polo, had justsailed away from Venice, which was their home, on atrading voyage to Constantinople. When they got tothat city, instead of trading the goods which they hadbrouglit with them for some of the silks and spiceswhich came from the far East and returning home as. GENERAL MAP OF MARCO POLOS JOURNEY. other merchants did, they exchanged all their merchan-dise for jewels, which could be concealed from robbersmore easily than gold, and went on into the Easterncountries. I suppose they had some curiosity to findout where the spices, silks, gums, and jewels, whichEuropeans were so glad to buy, came from. Theyjourneyed through Asia to China, or Cathay, as peoplecalled it in those days. The great Chinese Emperor,Kublai Khan, treated the strangers very kindly, andsent back a message by them to the Pope. MARCO POLO. The travelers were gone nineteen years, and whenthey returned they found that Nicolo had a son namedMarco whom tliey had never seen, although he had bythis time grown to be a man. They stayed in Italy twoyears, and then they took Marco with them and set out for the empire of Kublai
Size: 2071px × 1207px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectcolumbuschristopher
