7. The journey to Burma
Marco Polo," said Kublai Khan, I want you to travel to the south of my empire. Go as far as Tibet and Burma. Tell me about everything you see there. It will be a dangerous journey, but some of my soldiers and servants will go with you.
The soldiers and servants all travelled on horses. Camels carried the tents and food. Marco's father and uncle stayed in Peking, so Marco said good-bye to them.
There is a muddy river about ten miles south of Peking.
At that time there was a long bridge across it. Marco was amazed to see this bridge. It had twenty-four arches. Huge lions carved in marble stood on each side of it. The bridge was wide enough for ten men on horses to travel across it together
At first Marco and his men travelled through some of the richest parts of China. The roads were good, and the people were well dressed.
But after a few weeks they came near Tibet. There were fewer people here. The road climbed over high mountains and there were tigers in the forests.
Some of the forest trees were bamboos. Bamboo wood is hollow and it has air inside it. When there is a fire in a bamboo forest, this air explodes with a sound like gunfire
Marco's men put bamboo wood on their camp fires every night. It burned with a loud noise: BANG! POP! BANG! The noise frightened the tigers away.
Near Burma, Marco saw some crocodiles in a river. A man told him, "The crocodiles come out of the river at night. They look for baby tigers. Sometimes a mother tiger finds a crocodile near her home. Then there is a terrible battle.
Once, Marco saw a tiger and a crocodile fighting. The crocodile won.