Note {2} — Chapter XXII

Note 2.—The word here used is Fondaco, often employed in mediæval Italian in the sense nearly of what we call a factory. The word is from the Greek πανδοκεῖον, but through the Arabic Fandúḳ. The latter word is used by Ibn Batuta in speaking of the hostelries at which the Mussulman merchants put up in China.