576 MEDIAEVAL HISTORY. [PART V. 



anchor. The third rules the region towards the north, which 

 produces pearls. He has made a great rampart on the isthmus 

 to control the passage of the barbarians from the opposite coast ; 

 for they used to make incursions in great numbers, and de- 

 stroyed all the houses, temples, and plantations they could reach, 

 and slew such men as were near, or could not flee to the moun- 

 tains. The fourth king governs the region to the east, pro- 

 ducing the richest gems in surprising profusion ; the ruby, the 

 sapphire, and diamond. All these, being the brothers of the 

 great king in Rochapatta, are appointed to rule over these 

 places, and he who is the eldest of the brothers has the supreme 

 power, and is called the chief and mighty ruler. He has a 

 thousand black elephants, and five light-coloured ones. The 

 black are abundant, but the fair-coloured are rare, and found 

 nowhere except in this island, and the black ones do homage to 

 them. Having captured such a one, they bring him to the 

 king in Rochapatta, whose peculiar prerogative it is to ride on 

 a white elephant, this being unlawful for his subjects. There 

 are many fierce crocodiles in the rivers, and they are killed by 

 crowds of men who rush with shouts into the water, armed 

 with sharp stakes. And ten days after they arrived in Ro- 

 chapatta, many Tyrians joined Rachius in hunting crocodiles." 

 (Ch. xii.) "When the ships returned to Tyre, Joramus gave 

 orders to erect a pillar at the temple of Melicarthus, and to 

 engrave on it an account of all that had taken place. This 

 pillar was thrown down in the earthquake of last year, but 

 it was not broken, so that the narrative can even now be seen." 



BOOK VIII. 



(Ch. i.) " This is the voyage which Joramus, the king of the 

 Tyrians, ordered Joramus, the priest of Melicarthus, to recount 

 and to engrave on a pillar in the temple of Melicarthus, and 

 Sydyk, the scribe, having four copies, was directed to send 

 them to the Sidonians, the Byblians, the Aradians, and the 

 Berythians. The other copies can nowhere be found, and the 

 pillar lies shattered in the ruins of the temple, but the copy of 

 the Byblians is still left in the Temple of Baaltis, and its words 

 are to this effect." 



(Ch. ii.) " Hierbas, the son of Bartophas, and king of the 

 .Tyrians, thus addressed Joramus, the priest of Madynus, at 

 the time when figs were first ripe : ( Taking a book and pen, 

 describe all the cities and islands and colonies and the countries 



