286 Appendix. 



find something about the intercourse of Arabs with the East 

 in early times. My object was to discover how early trade 

 was carried on between the Arabs and India and China, with 

 a view of obtaining some idea of the chances that the 

 various kinds of citrus might have had of becoming dis- 

 seminated through their means. The book in question is 

 called, " Relations des voyages faits par les Arabes et les 

 Persans dans 1'Inde et la Chine, dans le IX e siecle de 1'ere 

 Chretienne," translated from the Arabic by M. Reinaud, and 

 published in Paris in 1845. 



It consists of accounts related by a merchant named 

 Soleyman, who made several voyages between Persia, India 

 and China. At page 12 he relates that the merchandise 

 (coming from China) is small in quantity and dear at Busra 

 and Baghdad. One of the reasons for this is that fires are 

 frequent at Khanfou, where houses are made of wood. 

 Khanfou is a Chinese port, and an entrepot for merchandise 

 belonging to Arab and Chinese merchants. Another reason 

 is the shipwrecks which occur on the outward and homeward 

 voyages. Then the ships are liable to be plundered, or are 

 forced to make a long stay in certain places, which obliges the 

 merchants to dispose of their goods out of Arabia, &c. &c. 



At page 13 he says that the vessels for China start from 

 Syraf, on the coast of Persia. This place serves as a con- 

 venient entrepot for merchandise from Busra, Oman, and 

 other places. 



At page 1 5 he continues : After taking fresh water from 

 Muscat, the vessels make sail for India, and after a month 

 arrive at Koulam-Malay (Quilon) ; Malay being the common 

 name for Malabar, or country of Mala. After provisioning, and 

 taking in water, they again start for the sea of Herkend, and, 

 passing that, they come to the islands of Lenjcbalons. The 

 people there are naked, and come in boats to take iron in 

 exchange for amber, cocoanuts, &c. Thence, the ships go to 

 Kalah-bar (bar means either kingdom or coast, and is 

 probably on the Coromandel coast). Between this and 

 Quilon is a month's voyage. The people of Kaldhbar 

 wear a kind of cloth round their loins. In ten days more 

 they get to Betownah (or TenoumaJi) for water if necessary, 

 and thence to Senef is another ten days. From this place 



