Here, for the first time, they heard of a kingdom on the east coast
of Asia which was not yet conquered by the Mongols, and which was
known by the name of Cathay. Fuller information was obtained by
another friar, named WILLIAM RUYSBROEK, or Rubruquis, a Fleming,
who also visited Karakorum as an ambassador from St. Louis, and got
back to Europe in 1255, and communicated some of his information to
Roger Bacon. He says: "These Cathayans are little fellows, speaking
much through the nose, and, as is general with all those Eastern
people, their eyes are very narrow.... The common money of Cathay
consists of pieces of cotton paper; about a palm in length and
breadth, upon which certain lines are printed, resembling the seal
of Mangou Khan. They do their writing with a pencil such as painters
paint with, and a single character of theirs comprehends several
letters, so as to form a whole word." He also identifies these
Cathayans with the Seres of the ancients. Ptolemy knew of these as
possessing the land where the silk comes from, but he had also heard
of the Sinæ, and failed to identify the two. It has been conjectured
that the name of China came to the West by the sea voyage, and is
a Malay modification, while the names Seres and Cathayans came
overland, and thus caused confusion.

Other Franciscans followed these, and one of them, John of Montecorvino,
settled at Khanbalig (imperial city), or Pekin, as Archbishop (ob.
1358); while Friar Odoric of Pordenone, near Friuli, travelled in
India and China between 1316 and 1330, and brought back an account
of his voyage, filled with most marvellous mendacities, most of
which were taken over bodily into the work attributed to Sir John
Maundeville.

The information brought back by these wandering friars fades, however,