The Travels of Marco Polo 1: Chapter 54

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CHAPTER LIV.

CONCERNING THE TARTAR CUSTOMS OF WAR.

[...only part of Note 1 preserved as relevant to Armenia]

NOTE 1.--The bow was the characteristic weapon of the Tartars, insomuch that the Armenian historians often call them "The Archers." (_St. Martin_, II. 133.) "CUIRBOULY, leather softened by boiling, in which it took any form or impression required, and then hardened." (_Wright's Dict._) The English adventurer among the Tartars, whose account of them is given by Archbishop Ivo of Narbonne, in Matthew Paris (_sub._ 1243), says: "De coriis bullitis sibi arma levia quidem, sed tamen impenetrabilia coaptarunt." This armour is particularly described by Plano Carpini (p. 685). See the tail-piece to Book IV.

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