The title of "Master of the Mastiffs" belonged to a high Court official at
Constantinople in former days, Samsunji Bashi, 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
"chaesseur qui a soins des chiens courants." This word occurs, he points
out, in Sanang Setzen, where Schmidt translates it Aufseher ueber 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-lt-chi,
"Keeper of the Big Dogs," which Professor Vambery 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 Kafir, "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.]
CHAPTER XX.
HOW THE EMPEROR GOES ON A HUNTING EXPEDITION.
After he has stopped at his capital city those three months that I
mentioned, to wit, December, January, February, he starts off on the 1st
day of March, and travels southward towards the Ocean Sea, a journey of
two days.[NOTE 1] He takes with him full 10,000 falconers, and some 500
gerfalcons besides peregrines, sakers, and other hawks in great numbers;
and goshawks also to fly at the water-fowl.[NOTE 2] But do not suppose
that he keeps all these together by him; they are distributed about,
hither and thither, one hundred together, or two hundred at the utmost, as
he thinks proper.
