A RED RED SEA 



"When the ships come from India they ar- 

 rive at Aden and pay a tithe of their merchan- 

 dise, because between the island Aden and the 

 point of Aden there is a rich city. Then there 

 is a very narrow place to pass, and a ship then 

 enters the Red Sea and discharges its cargo at 

 a city they call Sacam (Suakin), belonging to 

 the King of Caldea. 



"This Red Sea is so called because the bot- 

 tom consists of red ochre which makes the 

 water red. By this sea the Jews passed when 

 they went forth from the Egyptian captivity 

 of Faraon the King (Pharaoh). Presently I 

 entered Caldea, which is all surrounded by two 

 very great rivers, rising in the mountains of 

 Toro (Taurus). One is called Cur (a mistake 

 for Tigris) and the other called Eufrates, but 

 not the one of Nubia. Both these rivers reach 

 the Indian Sea in the gulf they call the Black 

 Sea (Persian Gulf). This Caldea is a rich, 

 populous, and well-supplied land. 



"Know that in this province is the Tower of 

 Babel, which the giants built in the center of a 

 great plain, the Agra de Senabar (Shinar), 

 and here was the great city of Bauilonia (Baby- 

 lon), which is now destroyed, of which the 

 lord was Nabucodonusor (Nebuchadnezzar). 



"I crossed an arm of the Eufrates and en- 

 tered the province of Baldaque (Bagdad), in 

 which there is a great city which they call 

 Bandacho (Bagdad), and Nabucodonusor 

 (Nebuchadnezzar) was king of these prov- 

 inces. I departed from Bandacho and went to 

 Mesopotamia. I left Mesopotamia and went 

 to a city where the river Cur (Tigris) forms 

 a great island called Ansera, in which island 

 there is a great city. Beyond this river is the 

 site of the city of Niniue (Nineveh), which 

 was destroyed for its sins. Know that this re- 

 gion contains very extensive lands, many cities 

 and villages, and is all encircled by the two 

 great rivers called Eufrates and Cur (Tigris). 

 From the borders of the Red Sea to the shores 

 of the Persian Gulf as far as Aquysio (Kishm) 

 we cannot give different devices because Cal- 

 dea and Baldaque are all in one lordship and 

 it is all one region. 



"I crossed the river Cur (Tigris) and made 

 a very long journey until I came to Arabia, 

 traversing a great extent of land and arriving 

 at the city of Al Medina (Medina), where 

 Mahomat was born. Thence I went to Me- 

 dian (Mecca), where is the law and testament 

 of Mahomat in an iron chest and in a house 

 of calamita stone. For this reason it is in the 

 air, neither ascending nor descending. Know 

 that this Median is the head of the empire of 

 the Arabs. Its device is a red flag and on it 

 Arabic letters in gold (1097). 



"I departed from Media and traveled over 

 the Kingdom of Arabia onwards until I arrived 

 at a very large city they called Fadal (Fartak), 

 on the shores of the Sea of India. I remained 

 there sometime and then went on board a ship 

 and passed a very large and well-peopled 

 island called Sicocra (Socotra). There is in 

 it a very large city also called Sicocra, under 

 the rule of the King of Arabia This same 

 island the ships touch coming from India laden 



with spices. It has a red flag with Arabic let- 

 ters (1098). 



THE WEAI/TH OF INDIA 



"I then traveled with some merchants for a 

 very great distance and arrived at a kingdom 

 of Delini (Delhi), belonging to the kings of 

 India. It contains extensive lands, very rich 

 and populous. The cities I came to were nine. 

 Know that in this Kingdom of Lini (Delhi) 

 the pepper and ginger and aloe ripen, and many 

 other spices, of which there are great harvests, 

 which are taken over all the world. They call 

 this province India the sandy (Sind and Raj- 

 putana), and the color of the people is black. 

 They use Turkish bows. They are a wise 

 people, with good memories, and learned in all 

 kinds of knowledge. The device of the king 

 is a white flag with a gold pale (1099). 



"I departed from the Kingdom of Dilini and 

 entered that of Viguy (Bijava-nagar), which 

 is on the other coast of the Indian Sea. Be- 

 yond this kingdom there is an island in the 

 Indian Sea called Sagela (Ceylon), in which 

 there is a great and rich city. In this island 

 there are workings whence gold, silver, and 

 other metals and very large rubies come; 

 others smaller. This kingdom marches with 

 the Empire of Armalec (Bengal), with the 

 Kingdom of Linj and with the Indian Sea. 



"Know_ that this Indian Sea is a branch 

 which joins to the great eastern sea. Some 

 say that it covers all the world up to the west- 

 ern sea. Wise men say that as far as the Ant- 

 arctic Pole there is a great land forming a 

 tenth part of the whole earth. The learned 

 call this land Trapouana (Sumatra), marching 

 with the island of Java and extending to the 

 westward along an arm of the great sea which 

 surrounds the whole earth and of which the 

 Indian Sea is part. 



"Know that in the islands of Java and Tra- 

 pouana there are 45 extensive regions, the 

 greater part desolate, owing to the great heat 

 of the sun. But in the inhabited parts they 

 gather much pepper and many other spices. 

 Here are the great griffins and the great cock- 

 atrices. The king has for his device a white 

 flag with a gold wand. 



"Afterwards I departed from the Kingdom 

 of Viguy and passed over a gulf of the Indian 

 Sea, which they call the Gulf of Bengala (Ben- 

 gal), because on its shore is a great city called 

 Bengala, of the Empire of Armelec, and it is 

 the capital of the kingdom. I passed thence 

 to the Kingdom of Oxanap (Burma?), which 

 is on the shore of the Indian Sea. Along the 

 shores of Oxanap the sea is green ; it is an arm 

 of the Indian Sea between this Oxanap and 

 the island of Java. The King of Oxanap has 

 for his device a white flag with a pale of gold 

 (similar to Delhi — 1099). 



"I departed from Oxanap, went on board a 

 ship with some merchants, and sailed over the 

 green sea until we came to the island of Java, 

 a verygreat island in the Indian Sea about 40 

 days' journey in length. The island is very 

 populous, but there are no cities, because ail 

 the people live in the country and gather spices, 

 pepper, and odoriferous gums. It is a very 

 hot land. The people are black and they adore 



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