At the time
when Marco Polo returned from Cathay they were at war with Genoa
(Gen'-o-a).
The two cities were fighting for the trade of the world. In a
great naval battle the Venetians were completely defeated. Marco
Polo was in the battle and with many of his countrymen was captured
by the enemy. For a year he was confined in a Genoese prison. One
of his fellow-prisoners was a skillful penman and Marco dictated
to him an account of his experiences in China, Japan, and other
Eastern countries. This account was carefully written out. Copies
of the manuscript exist to this day. One of these is in a library
in Paris. It was carried into France in the year 1307. Another
copy is preserved in the city of Berne. It is said that the book
was translated into many languages, so that people in all parts
of Europe learned about Marco's adventures. About a hundred and
seventy-five years after the book was written, the famous Genoese,
Christopher Columbus, planned his voyage across the Atlantic. It
is believed that he had read Marco's description of Java, Sumatra
and other East India Islands, which he thought he had reached when
he discovered Haiti (Hai'-ti) and Cuba.
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