What might this be? A thousand fantasies
Begin to throng into my memory,
Of calling shapes, and beckoning shadows dire,
And airy tongues that syllable men's names
On sands and shores and desert wildernesses.

At last they arrived safely at Tangut in the extreme north-west of
China, and, skirting the frontier across the great steppes of Mongolia,
they were greeted by the Khan's people, who had been sent forward to
meet them at the distance of forty days' journey, and so at last they
reached his presence in the May of 1275, having journeyed for three
years and a half.

The Great Khan received the Polos kindly, listened attentively to the
account which they gave of their mission, commended them for their zeal
and fidelity, and received the holy oil and the Pope's gifts with
reverence. He then observed the boy Marco, now a 'young gallant' and
personable enough, no doubt, and inquired who he was, and Nicolo made
answer, 'Sire, this is your servant, and my son,' to which the Khan
replied, 'He is welcome, and much it pleases me,' and enrolled Marco
among his own attendants. It was the beginning of a long and close
association, for Kublai Khan soon found that Marco Polo was both
discreet and intelligent, and began to employ him on various missions.
Moreover, Marco, for his part, found that the Great Khan was always
desirous of learning the manners and customs of the many tribes over
whom he ruled. Kublai had to the full that noble curiosity which is the
beginning of wisdom, and it irked him exceedingly that his envoys, good
conscientious men, followed their noses upon his business, looking
neither to right nor to left, and as like as not never even noticed that
among the aboriginal hill tribes of the interior called Miaotzu there