CONCERNING THE TWO BROTHERS WHO HAVE CHARGE OF THE
KAAN’S HOUNDS.
The Emperor hath two Barons who are own brothers, one called Baian and
the other Mingan; and these two are styled _Chinuchi_ (or _Cunichi_),
which is as much as to say, “The Keepers of the Mastiff Dogs.”{1}
Each of these brothers hath 10,000 men under his orders; each body
of 10,000 being dressed alike, the one in red and the other in blue,
and whenever they accompany the Lord to the chase, they wear this
livery, in order to be recognized. Out of each body of 10,000 there
are 2000 men who are each in charge of one or more great mastiffs, so
that the whole number of these is very large. And when the Prince goes
a-hunting, one of those Barons, with his 10,000 men and something like
5000 dogs, goes towards the right, whilst the other goes towards the
left with his party in like manner. They move along, all abreast of
one another, so that the whole line extends over a full day’s journey,
and no animal can escape them. Truly it is a glorious sight to see the
working of the dogs and the huntsmen on such an occasion! And as the
Lord rides a-fowling across the plains, you will see these big hounds
coming tearing up, one pack after a bear, another pack after a stag, or
some other beast, as it may hap, and running the game down now on this
side and now on that, so that it is really a most delightful sport and
spectacle.
[The Two Brothers I have mentioned are bound by the tenure of their
office to supply the Kaan’s Court from October to the end of March with
1000 head of game daily, whether of beasts or birds, and not counting
quails; and also with fish to the best of their ability, allowing fish
enough for three persons to reckon as equal to one head of game.]
Now I have told you of the Masters of the Hounds and all about them,
and next will I tell you how the Lord goes off on an expedition for the
space of three months.
NOTE 1.—Though this particular Bayan and Mingan are not likely to
be mentioned in history, the names are both good Mongol names;
_Bayan_ that of a great soldier under Kúblái, of whom we shall hear
afterwards; and _Mingan_ that of one of Chinghiz’s generals.
The title of “Master of the Mastiffs” belonged to a high Court
official at Constantinople in former days, _Sámsúnji Báshi_, and I
have no doubt Marco has given the exact interpretation of the title
of the two Barons: though it is difficult to trace its elements.
It is read variously _Cunici_ (_i.e._ _Kunichi_) and _Cinuci_ (_i.e._
_Chinuchi_). It is evidently a word of analogous structure to
_Kushchi_, the Master of the Falcons; _Parschi_, the Master of
the Leopards. Professor Schiefner thinks it is probably corrupted
from _Noghaichi_, which appears in Kovalevski’s Mongol Dict. as
“_chasseur qui a soins des chiens courants_.” This word occurs, he
points out, in Sanang Setzen, where Schmidt translates it _Aufseher
über Hunde_. (See _S. S._ p. 39.)
The metathesis of _Noghai_-chi into _Kuni_-chi is the only drawback
to this otherwise apt solution. We generally shall find Polo’s
Oriental words much more accurately expressed than this would
imply—as in the next chapter. I have hazarded a suggestion of
(Or. Turkish) _Chong-It-chi_, “Keeper of the Big Dogs,” which
Professor Vámbéry thinks possible. (See “_chong_, big, strong,”
in his _Tschagataische Sprachstudien_, p. 282, and note in _Lord
Strangford’s Selected Writings_, II. 169.) In East Turkestan they
call the Chinese _Chong Káfir_, “The Big Heathen.” This would
exactly correspond to the rendering of Pipino’s Latin translation,
“_hoc est canum magnorum Praefecti_.” _Chinuchi_ again would be
(in Mongol) “Wolf-keepers.” It is at least possible that the great
dogs which Polo terms mastiffs may have been known by such a name.
We apply the term Wolf-dog to several varieties, and in Macbeth’s
enumeration we have—
————“Hounds, and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs,
Shoughs, water rugs, and _Demi-Wolves_.”
Lastly the root-word may be the Chinese _Kiuen_, “dog,” as Pauthier
says. The mastiffs were probably Tibetan, but may have come through
China, and brought a name with them, like _Boule-dogues_ in France.
[Palladius (p. 46) says that _Chinuchi_ or _Cunici_ “have no
resemblance with any of the names found in the _Yuen shi_, ch.
xcix., article _Ping chi_ (military organisation), and relating to
the hunting staff of the Khan, viz.: _Si pao ch’i_ (falconers), _Ho
r ch’i_ (archers), and _Ke lien ch’i_ (probably those who managed
the hounds).”—H. C.]