In Ramusio the two Polos propose to Kúblái to make “_mangani al modo di Ponente_”; and it is worthy of note that in the campaigns of Aláuddin Khilji and his generals in the Deccan, _circa_ 1300, frequent mention is made of the _Western Manjaniks_ and their great power. (See _Elliot_, III. 75, 78, etc.) Of the kind worked by man-ropes must have been that huge mangonel which Mahomed Ibn Kásim, the conqueror of Sind, set in battery against the great Dagoba of Daibul, and which required 500 men to work it. Like Simon de Montfort’s it had a tender name; it was called “The Bride.” (_Elliot_, I. 120.) Before quitting this subject, I will quote a curious passage from the History of the Sung Dynasty, contributed to the work of Reinaud and Favé by M. Stanislas Julien: “In the 9th year of the period Hien-shun (A.D. 1273) the frontier cities had fallen into the hands of the enemy (Tartars). The _Pao_ (or engines for shooting) of the Hwei-Hwei (Mahomedans) were imitated, but in imitating them very ingenious improvements were introduced, and _pao_ of a different and very superior kind were constructed. Moreover, an extraordinary method was invented of neutralising the effects of the enemy’s _pao_. Ropes were made of rice-straw 4 inches thick, and 34 feet in length. Twenty such ropes were joined, applied to the tops of buildings, and covered with clay. In this manner the fire-arrows, fire-_pao_, and even the pao casting stones of 100 lbs. weight, could cause no damage to the towers or houses.” (_Ib._ 196; also for previous parts of this note, _Visdelou_, 188; _Gaubil_, 34, 155 _seqq._ and 70; _De Mailla_, 329; _Pauthier in loco_ and Introduction; _D’Ohsson_, II. 35, and 391; Notes by _Mr. Edward Thomas_, F.R.S.; _Q. Rashid._, pp. 132, 136.) [See I. p. 342.] [Captain Gill writes (_River of Golden Sand_, I. p. 148): “The word ‘P’ao’ which now means ‘cannon,’ was, it was asserted, found in old Chinese books of a date anterior to that in which gunpowder was first known to Europeans; hence the deduction was drawn that the Chinese were acquainted with gunpowder before it was used in the West. But close examination shows that in all old books the radical of the character ‘P’ao’ means ‘stone,’ but that in modern books the radical of the character ‘P’ao’ means ‘fire’; that the character with the radical ‘fire’ only appears in books well known to have been written since the introduction of gunpowder into the West; and that the old character ‘P’ao’ in reality means ‘Balista.’”—H. C.] [Illustration: Coin from a treasure hidden at Siang-yang during the siege in 1268–73, lately discovered.]