Owing to its being on the river,
many cities send their produce thither to be again thence distributed in
every direction. A great amount of salt also is made here, furnishing some
forty other cities with that article, and bringing in a large revenue to
the Great Kaan.[NOTE 1]
NOTE 1. - Coiganju is HWAI-NGAN CHAU, now -Fu on the canal, some
miles south of the channel of the Hwang-Ho; but apparently in Polo's time
the great river passed close to it. Indeed, the city takes its name from
the River Hwai, into which the Hwang-Ho sent a branch when first
seeking a discharge south of Shantung. The city extends for about 3 miles
along the canal and much below its level. [According to Sir J.F. Davis,
the situation of Hwai-ngan "is in every respect remarkable. A part of the
town was so much below the level of the canal, that only the tops of the
walls (at least 25 feet high) could be seen from our boats.... It proved
to be, next to Tien-tsin, by far the largest and most populous place we
had yet seen, the capital itself excepted." (Sketches of China, I.
pp. 277-278.) - H.C.]
The headquarters of the salt manufacture of Hwai-ngan is a place called
Yen-ching ("Salt-Town"), some distance to the S. of the former city
(Pauthier).
CHAPTER LXVII.
