Chapter I: Preface: xi

CHAPTER

I THE WORLD THAT WAS 1

II THE EARTH ITSELF 5

III INANIMATE NATURE 14

IV THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 27

V THE FABULOUS BEASTS 49

VI FABLE UPON WINGS 68

VII THE DRAGON 79

VIII DENIZENS OF THE DEEP 89

IX THE PEOPLES OF PRODIGY 103

X THE SATYRS 121

XI THE PYGMIES 132

XII THE AMAZONS OF LEGEND 151

XIII THE AMAZONS OF HISTORY 169

XIV THE FOLK OF TRADITION 190

XV THE HORIZON LANDS 201

XVI LANDS OF LEGEND 223

XVII ISLANDS OF ENCHANTMENT 251

XVIII THE TERRIBLE OCEAN 262

XIX THE SARGASSO SEA 274

XX ATLANTIS 281

XXI THE GILDED MAN 298

XXII THE DREAM QUESTS OF SPAIN 312

XXIII THE FABRIC OF ILLUSION 334

XXIV THE TRAVEL TALES OF MANKIND 348

XXV THE GAINS OF FABLE 371

BIBLIOGRAPHY 379

ILLUSTRATIONS

THE BOYHOOD OF RALEIGH. _By Sir John Millais_ _Frontispiece_

FACING PAGE

A VOYAGE TO THESE STRANGELY PEOPLED COUNTRIES OF
THE WORLD’S YESTERDAYS WOULD BE A VOYAGE
ALONG THE BAYS, GULFS, AND PROMONTORIES OF THE
HUMAN MIND IN ITS STATES OF DREAM 2

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AT THE COURT OF FERDINAND
THE CATHOLIC AND ISABELLA OF CASTILE. _By V. von
Brozik_ 10

ACCORDING TO TRADITION, A PUTRID STREAM FLOWS
FROM THE ROOTS OF THE TREE AND THE VAPORS
THEREOF KILL 24

IN CALDILHE THERE GROWETH A MANNER OF FRUIT, AND
MEN FIND WITHIN A LITTLE BEAST AS THOUGH IT
WERE A LAMB WITHOUT WOOL 58

THE FIRST PEOPLE ENGAGED IN SUCH COSMIC ADVENTURES
AS WARFARE AGAINST STONE GIANTS 116

A SATYR. _By Jacob Jordaens_ 122

MEN FEARED THEM, AS EMBODYING THE LONELINESS OF
WASTE PLACES 128

THE SWARTHY MEN CALLED PYGMIES 142

THUSNELDA AT THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY OF GERMANICUS
INTO ROME. _By C. T. von Piloty_ 172

THE STEEPS OVERHEAD SEEMED FIT ABODE FOR GIANTS
AND DWARFS AND GRIFFINS--FOR CITIES OF ENCHANTMENT 206

THE ENCHANTED WOODS OF ROMANCE WITH THEIR
GOBLIN GLOOMS AND TALKING TREES FADED FROM THE
MINDS OF MEN 216

“BUILD US, O DOUL-KARNAIN,” THEY BEGGED, “A RAMPART
BETWEEN US AND THEM” 236

IN ISLANDS MEN PLACED THEIR IDEAL STATES.... TO
REACH FELICITY ONE MUST CROSS WATER 254

ROARING FORTIES. _By F. J. Waugh_ 268

THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT ANIMATED SPAIN IN SOME OF
THE QUESTS IT FOLLOWED BESIDE THE STILL WATERS
OF THE LAKES OF DREAM 314

THE GARGOYLES OF STONE WHICH KEPT WATCH DAY
AND NIGHT 338

MARCO TALKS WITH HIS NEIGHBORS

THE TIME: 1295 A.D.
THE PLACE: Venice, the Rialto.
THE SPEAKER: Marco Polo.
THE CHORUS: Citizens of Venice.

_“I fared,” said Marco, “as far as one may----
From Astrakhan to the ports of Cathay,
And sailed two years on the Pitch Dark Sea;
And something I learned of the ways of man.
There is a place that they call Japan,
And Russia lies where the north winds be;
The plain of Lop is haunted by dragons;
Dark are the damsels and fierce the flagons
In the Thousand Islands of Spicery.”_

“_Far are these lands and fair is their sheen,
But tell us, Polo, what have you seen?”_

_“I saw,” said Marco, “the pagans at masses
And Tibetan dogs the size of asses,
And oil from the ground, and black stones, blazing.
I saw pink pearls from an unknown strand,
And ten-pound peaches of China-land,
And bales of silk that were past appraising.
I saw the Malabar pepper farmers
And cannibal sharks subdued by charmers,
But the grunting ox was most amazing.”_

“_Much have you seen where the wild capes curve,
But tell us, Polo, whom did you serve?”_

_“I served,” said Marco, “the Khan of Khans.
His edict runs with the caravans
As far as the east is from the west.
The Turk and the Hindu hold his charters,
He sways Cathaians, Persians, and Tartars,
Yet Kublai welcomes the stranger guest.
His deeds are writ upon purple pages,
A shepherd king but a sage of sages,
And his thousand damsels are Asia’s best.”_

“_Him must a thousand matters perplex,
But, Polo, speak yet more of the sex.”_

_“The men of Gobi,” said Marco, “require
Their dames to sit by the stranger’s fire,
And make his favor the tribal boast.
Frail are the women in Pin-yang-fu,
And delicate quin-sai wenches woo
Ambassadors from the Pepper Coast.
Though maids with feet as swift as the wind
May dance, all bare, for the gods of Ind,
The women of Persia please the most.”_

“_Whimsical, Marco, your travel word.
Is there aught else that you saw or heard?”_

_“I heard,” said Marco, “but do not know,
That Tartar shamans summon the snow,
And suns shine not for the Samoyed.
In southern countries its fabled horn
Means less than its tongue to the unicorn,
Which licks its victims until they are dead.
Here is a text for songs or sermons:
When babes are born to the female Burmans,
Their foolish husbands hie them to bed.”_

_Rose, then, a shout from a hundred lips:
“Marco, the tar of a thousand trips,
Marco the man of a million quips,
Marco, Marco, Milioni!”
And they who would hold the East in fee,
Men of the pitiful midland sea,
Nobles and commons, laughed shamelessly.
“Which the catcher, and who the coney?
What I have seen is truly averred,
But what I have heard is--what I have heard!”
Thus to himself, with a secret mirth,
The only man who had seen the earth._