(Jacob). Know that this province was taken 

 by the French when they made the conquests 

 beyond seas. The device of this province is a 

 white flag with red crosses, like this" (1067). 



Sir Clements Markham, vice-president of 

 the Hakluyt Society and translator of the 

 Franciscan's Book of Knowledge, notes that 

 there was no authority for these five crosses 

 gules in the arms of Jerusalem. The correct 

 arms were metal on metal ; argent a cross po- 

 tent or (gold) between four lesser crosses or. 



"Suria marches with the land of Jafet 

 (Japhet), and this Jafet borders the very rich 

 city of Damasco (Damascus), well supplied 

 with all things. Near this Damasco flows the 

 river Eufrates. The king has a yellow flag 

 with a white moon (1068). 



"Egipto (Egypt) borders on Suria. I came 

 along the coast to a port called La Risa (the 

 Port of Risa). And I took the road to the 

 west and came to Damiata (Damietta), a noble 

 city surrounded by the river Nilus (Nile). 

 Know that here the King of France was de- 

 feated and a prisoner when he went to make 

 conquest beyond sea (Louis IX, defeated at 

 Massura, near Damietta, in 1250). On the 

 banks of this river Nilus is situated the great 

 city Alcaira (Cairo), where the kings of 

 Egipto are crowned. The device of this king- 

 dom is a white flag with a blue moon (1069). 



THE HIDING PLACE OF THE ROSETTA STONE 



"I left Alcaira and went to the coast where 

 is the city of Alexandria, which is noble and 

 rich. From this Alexandria to the isle of 

 Roxeta the distance is ten leagues, all peopled 

 with villages. (Rosetta is the Egyptian town 

 made famous for all time by the discovery 

 near here of the "Rosetta Stone" in 1799, the 

 inscribed block of basaltic rock which unlocked 

 the secrets of hieroglyphic writing.) The king 

 of this Alexandria has for his device a yellow 

 flag and in the middle a black wheel in which 

 is a gray lion (1070). 



"I departed from Alexandria and went by 

 the coast to a city called Luchon (Lucha), 

 where the king has a yellow flag with a white 

 moon (1071). 



''Leaving Luchon I came to Mon de Barcas 

 (Barca) and Bona Andrea (Apolonia), which 

 is in Berberia (Barbary), and thence to Tolo- 

 meta (Ptolemais), on the seashore. The king 

 has for a device a white flag with a yellow- 

 sash on a lance (1072). 



"From Tolometa I came to Puerto Magro 

 (the mouth of the river Magra, ancient Cyni- 

 phus), and thence to Tripul (Tripoli), of Ber- 

 beria. It is called Tripul because it is bounded 

 by the Triplicana Mountains. This Tripul is 

 a rich city and the king of it has for his de- 

 vice a white flag with a green palm tree and 

 two red keys (1073 and 1074). 



"I went from Tripul to Rahasa (Ras Maja- 

 bes), Capiz (Gabes), and Faquiz (Alfaques), 

 and thence to Africa (Mahdia, in Tunisia), a 

 rich city. Know that 26 miles from this Africa 

 is a great tower called Ligem, and from this 

 tower to Alcairahuan (Kairowan) there are 40 

 miles. At this Alcairahuan the king of all 

 Africa toward the west, named Albohacem 

 (Abu-1-hasan Ali), was defeated and all his 

 tents were pillaged. The King of Africa has 



for his device a white flag with a purple moon" 

 (1075). 



The Franciscan's mention of the battle be- 

 tween Abu-1-hasan Ali and Ahmed, near Kairo- 

 wan, which occurred in 1348, is of special in- 

 terest, as it is the latest date mentioned by the 

 chronicler. The friar probably did not visit 

 Kairowan, for with the exception of Mecca 

 and Medina it is the most sacred of cities in 

 the eyes of Mohammedans, and up to the time 

 of the French occupation, in 1881, no Christian 

 was permitted to pass through its gates with- 

 out a special permit from the bey.) 



"I went thence to Cucia (Susa, in Tunisia, 

 built on the site of the Roman Hadrumetum), 

 and thence to Tunez (Tunis), which is a great 

 and rich city, well supplied with all things, and 

 is the head of all Berberia (Barbary). The 

 flag of the king is white with a black moon 

 (1076). 



"I went to Bona (old name, Hippo), where 

 St. Augustine was bishop. It is a rich city. 

 The king of it has a white flag with a black 

 moon (like Tunis — 1076). I departed from 

 Bona and went to the city of Constantina 

 (Constantine), which is all surrounded by a 

 river. The king has a flag parted per less 

 white and yellow (1078). 



"I left Constantina and arrived at Bugia 

 (Bougie). It is a very strong and ancient city. 

 The king has for his device a red flag with 3 

 yellow cross-bow" (1080). 



AN EARLY SIGNALING DEVICE 



Long before the Franciscan's visit to Bou- 

 gie it had become the greatest commercial 

 center on the North African coast and had 

 attained a high degree of civilization. There 

 is evidence that the heliograph was used here 

 for signaling from special towers as early as 

 the middle of the eleventh century. During 

 the century following the visit of the friar it 

 became the stronghold of the Barbary pirates. 



"I went from Bugia to Arguer (Algiers), 

 thence to Brischan (Bresia), a city on the sea- 

 coast. The king of it has a white flag with a 

 sign like this (1082). 



"I departed from Brischan and went to the 

 island of Mayorcas (Majorca), in which there 

 is a noble, rich, and well supplied city. The 

 king has for his device a flag with bars vert 

 (green) and sable" (1077). 



The colors which the Franciscan ascribes 

 to the Kingdom of Majorca constitute internal 

 proof that he visited the country prior to 1375, 

 for in that year the island was annexed by the 

 King of Aragon and its flag, of course, as- 

 sumed a red-and-gold hue (see 1044). 



"I entered Numedia as far as the rn-er of 

 Muluya until I arrived at the strong city of 

 Cepta (Ceuta). Know that Cepta is opposite 

 to Algezira (Algeciras) and Gibraltar, places 

 of the King of Spain. The gulf of the sea, 

 called the strait of Azocaque (Strait of Gibral- 

 tar), passes between Cepta and Gibraltar. The 

 king of this city has for his design a red flag 

 with two white keys (1079.) 



"I departed from Cepta and went to the 

 noble city of Fez, where the kings of the Bena 

 Marin (kings of the lineage of Beni Merin) 

 always reside. At Fez their kings are crowned 



393 



